Caught in the Crossfire
by Please View My New Account
Summary: The girls are dragged into a war that has been burning longer than any star in the heavens. And the soldiers of each side have a...unique method of torture in store for the girls. Tickling Fiction [Completed]
1. I'm a very good liar

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the Darkpuffs.**

_Since the beginning of time, the kingdom of the high Heavens has been at war with the chaotic armies of the burning Hells. Hell; however, has been in the grip of a colossal civil war that has torn the demonic legions apart. The rulers of each side of Hell are the twin brothers, whose demonic powers cannot be measured or comprehended by any mortal. One of the brothers, Malebolgia, believes that manipulation of the humans is the only way to overpower the armies of Heaven. The other, Leviathan, believes that the only way to win is to destroy everything in their path. Their ideas and sibling rivalry have become more and more intense throughout the years. One day; however, everything changed. Leviathan used all of his power to banish Malebolgia from the pits of Hell. Drained of nearly all of his power, locked in his weakest embodiment, and cast onto Earth, Malebolgia took up residence in a city in America. That city…was Townsville, USA. Fearing that should any of Heaven's soldiers discover his location and situation, Malebolgia remained only in his weakest form, and took on a new name, one that became feared by all of Townsville. That day, he became the demon known only as Him. That was 100 years ago. Malebolgia made sure that the small city he took residence in grew and succeeded. He also spread his influence throughout the city, infusing the city with his own evil. Creatures and villains of all shapes and sizes were born in Townsville. It became a hotbed for crime and corruption. Once again…all of his plans were changed. Professor Utonium accidentally used Chemical X to create three super powered little girls. They became known as the Powerpuff Girls, and used their near unstoppable powers to fight back against the evil that had become a part of Townsville. The Powerpuff Girls are now 10 years old, and today they will catch a glimpse of a civil war that has burned longer than any of the stars in space…_

Blossom walks down the street as the sun begins setting in the horizon. She wears a pink tank top, white shorts and white backless shoes, and her long orange hair is let down and blowing lazily at her knees. She carries the books she checked out of the library in front of her chest, and walks with her eyes on the sky. Her brain is swimming with several questions. Lately Townsville had been quiet, almost like all of the villains were on a vacation. Not even Mojo or Him had tried anything. It worried her.

"It's like the calm before the storm," she thinks to herself as she continues down the sidewalk. She stops by the park and notices something strange. Standing in the middle of the park is a girl with long spiky pink hair tied back in a ponytail. She wears a black and navy skintight tank top, gray pants, and black sneakers. "That's weird…it looks like she's waiting for something…or someone. And why in the world did she dye her hair pink? It definitely clashes with her wardrobe…" she mutters to herself. She begins to continue her trip home. Suddenly, the girl turns around and smirks at Blossom. The girl's eyes are very light blue, practically gray. A lump forms in Blossom's throat due to the girl's penetrating leer. She swallows it and unconsciously takes a step backward when she takes another look at the weird girl's outfit. Hanging from the girl's neck is an upside-down cross, connected to a black chain. Blossom's reaction makes the condescending smirk on the girl's face seem to become bigger and deadlier. She slowly makes her way towards Blossom. "Who is she?" the pink puff thinks to herself. When the girl finally reaches her, Blossom does her best to smile, despite the girl's leer. "Um…Hi there, can I help you?"

"You're…Blossom Utonium of the Powerpuff Girls aren't you?" asks the girl. Blossom nods, her eyes staying on the necklace longer than she intended. The girl smiles innocently and holds out her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you Blossom, I never thought I'd be able to meet another puff, especially you!" Blossom calms down a little, and then widens her eyes when she finally comprehends what the girl had just said.

"Wait…what do you mean, another puff?" The girl lowers her hand and frowns sadly. "Well you see…I'm a puff too. I was created by this science dude that wanted to use me as some sort of super weapon to take over the world. But I escaped from him, and I've been trying to find another puff to talk to since then," she smiles again, "I never thought the first puff I'd meet would be the famous Blossom of the Powerpuff Girls!" Blossom blushes a little and smiles at the girl.

"Well, I wouldn't say famous…not many people outside of Townsville really know that much about us. It's nice to meet you…?" the girl holds out her hand and grins.

"Belial, my name is Belial," Blossom smiles back and shifts her books into one arm. She shakes Belial's hand, noticing the puff hold on a little longer than necessary. " Well it's nice to meet you Belial, but I really need to be getting home, maybe I'll see you again sometime," Blossom turns to walk away. She gets only a few feet before Belial's voice stops her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you something Blossom," Blossom turns around and drops her books gasping for air as Belial's fist crashes into her stomach. Belial grins at Blossom and shoves her backward, knocking her to the ground. "I'm a very good liar," Blossom coughs trying to catch her breath. Belial continues to grin evilly at her, waiting for Blossom to get up and fight back. Blossom stands up, still coughing, and glares at Belial.

"Then who are you? Why do you want to fight me?" Belial shrugs and continues grinning at Blossom. "I'm a bad girl, and I was sent here to rough you up a bit. Hope you'll be so kind as to sit back and enjoy the ass kicking you're about to receive," Blossom glares at Belial and throws a roundhouse kick at her. Belial leans backward, easily avoiding the kick. "Come on, if you're going to be that way, at least give me SOME kind of a challenge!" Blossom throws a punch at Belial, who again dodges with next to no effort. Blossom begins launching an all-out assault against Belial, who simply floats backward, avoiding all of Blossom's attacks. Belial swings her leg around and sweeps Blossom's feet out from under her, knocking her to the ground. Blossom pushes herself up and growls at Belial, before lunging at her. Belial steps out of the way and kicks Blossom in the stomach. Blossom rolls across the ground, and fires her eyebeams at Belial as she stands up. Belial bends backward at a ninety-degree angle avoiding the beams, then comes back up and grins at Blossom.

"What's the matter baby, can't touch me? Maybe we should try something simpler for you, like a pillow fight or something," Blossom blushes and blows her ice breath at Belial. Belial flies into the air and fires her eyebeams at Blossom. Blossom rolls out of the beams way and fires her own at Belial. Belial lands and flies at Blossom with incredible speed. By the time Blossom has turned to look at her, Belial is next to Blossom. Blossom gasps and takes a step backward, nearly tripping. Belial's hand shoots out and grabs Blossom's arm, holding her up. Blossom tries to jerk her hand away from the evil puff, but Belial's grip is like a vice. Belial pushes Blossom to the ground and holds both her arms above her head with one hand. Blossom breathes heavily, staring into Belial's ice-cold eyes. Belial grins at Blossom mockingly. Blossom feels fear begin building up in her chest. Belial was so much stronger than she was; there wasn't anything Blossom could do to stop Belial from doing whatever she wanted to her. Belial smiles condescendingly and runs a single fingernail up Blossom's thigh.

"What's the matter? Scared already? I promise when I leave you'll have a great big smile on your face," says Belial mockingly. Blossom gulps and tries to ignore the tickly feeling shooting up her leg. Belial continues to slowly run her fingernail up and down Blossom's thigh. Blossom clenches her eyes shut. Although Belial had only hit her a few times, those had been enough to do plenty of damage. Blossom was weakened from the short fight, and the tickling wasn't helping her catch her second wind any easier. Belial seems to know what was going through Blossom's mind, and begins using two fingernails on Blossom's thigh. Blossom can feel the giggles building in her throat, but is determined to not let Belial win. "What are you struggling for? That doesn't tickle does it?" Asks Belial, knowing full well what kind of effect her little "attack" was having on Blossom. She adds another finger and this time Blossom can't hold the giggles back anymore. She giggles and shakes her head helplessly, trying to fight off the sensations Belial's fingers are causing. Belial's grin widens, "It does tickle doesn't it? Well, I think this little trip is going to be more enjoyable than I thought," she moves her hand up to Blossom's underarm and begins slowly running all five of her fingers along the sensitive skin. Blossom squeals and begins laughing. She shakes her head and bucks trying to get away, but Belial is too strong. Belial begins tickling Blossom faster, making her laugh harder. Belial quickly changes targets and begins squeezing Blossom's side. Blossom laughs and squirms harder, slowly beginning to realize that she isn't getting away until Belial wants her to. Belial's hand shoots up Blossom's shirt and her fingers dance along Blossom's flat belly, and swirl in her bellybutton. Blossom bucks harder and tears begin streaming down her face. Belial switches targets again, now spider walking her fingers up and down Blossom's ribs. Blossom screams and laughs harder, struggling with every last ounce of her strength to get away from Belial. Her tormentor grins and continues tickling away at Blossom's ribs. Blossom's laughs quickly become silent laughter as Belial's merciless tickling continues. After what feels like days to Blossom, Belial finally stops. Blossom curls up into a ball and continues giggling and crying as the tickly feelings die down. Belial stands up and smirks at Blossom.

"Well it's been a load of laughs, but I'm afraid it's time for me to go. Don't worry though, next time I'll be sure to give those neglected feet of yours a good tickling too," Belial giggles to herself and walks off. Blossom lies curled up in the middle of the park for several more minutes, before taking a deep breath and getting shakily to her feet. She brushes her hair out of her face and looks around. Belial is nowhere to be found. She slowly and carefully makes her way over to her books and picks them up.

"That was so embarrassing…there's no way I can tell Bubbles and Buttercup about this…" Blossom walks home slowly, looking over her shoulder about every ten seconds, praying that her merciless assailant doesn't return for more.


	2. Blazing Encounter: The First Blood Falls

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

Blossom walks in the front door, slips her shoes off and immediately heads upstairs. From the living room, Bubbles and Buttercup both notice her enter.

"Hey Blossom!" calls Bubbles, "Come in here and play this game with us!"

"No thanks…" Blossom goes upstairs and to the girls' room, shutting the door behind her. Bubbles looks at Buttercup with a confused expression on her cute face. Buttercup shrugs and continues playing the video game the two had been playing; now taking advantage of Bubbles not paying attention and beating her. Bubbles looks back at the screen and sees "Player 1 wins!" flashing on it.

"Hey! You cheated!" She yells at Buttercup, swinging a pillow at her. Buttercup grins and ducks then smacks Bubbles with a different pillow.

"I didn't cheat! You just weren't paying attention, so you lose." Bubbles growls and throws the pillow at Buttercup, hitting her in the face while she's grinning. Buttercup then gives a small battle cry and tackles Bubbles, pinning her against the side of the couch. Bubbles shrieks and tries to push Buttercup off of her, without much success. "Gotcha now Bubs!" Buttercup smirks at her. Bubbles continues struggling against Buttercup's hold.

"Let go of me already!" Buttercup shrugs and lets go of Bubbles' arms. Bubbles sits up and glares at her, before picking up her controller and starting the game over. "You are such a cheater," Buttercup blows a raspberry at her and the two go back to playing their game.

_The Next Day_

Bubbles and Buttercup are walking home from the grocery store. It's a warm day, so neither girl is wearing anything heavy. Buttercup is just wearing her workout clothes, which consist of a green tank top, black shorts, and tennis shoes. Bubbles is wearing a yellow blouse with a blue skirt, and white flip-flops. The streets are fairly empty, which is odd for this time of day. Neither girl mentions this to each other, but both are slightly creeped out.

"Hey Buttercup, why didn't Blossom want to come with us? She doesn't have any homework or anything." Buttercup shrugs.

"I dunno, she's been acting kinda…uh what's the word…uh…paranoid! That's it! She's been acting really paranoid since yesterday."

"What do you think happened?" again Buttercup shrugs. They walk past the Kindergarten, both looking at it as they walk past. Bubbles raises an eyebrow when they walk past the playground. There is a girl, around their age possibly older but not likely, sitting on a swing swaying slowly back and forth letting her feet drag on the ground. She has long hair that is colored strangely. At the roots it is yellow. About a third of the way down it fades to orange, and in the last third of her hair fades into red. Her eyes, which are just as strange, are a burning blue-white. She wears a white tank top, a light blue skirt, and purple flip-flops. Suddenly another girl, the same age, appears in the front the girl on the swing. This new girl is wearing a pale pink tank top, a white skirt that slowly fades to red at the bottom giving it the appearance of being drenched in blood, and black shoes. Her hair is white and done up in pigtails and her eyes are fierce orange. She shoves the first girl backward knocking her off the swing. The first girl looks up at the new girl. The second girl snarls at the first.

"I can't believe Father is making me work with your pathetic ass. Why couldn't Blitz come with me? At least she's not a pansy ass wimp like you, Blaze." The first girl, Blaze, stands up and brushes her skirt off, staring down at her feet.

"I'm sorry Blood…" Blood snorts and crosses her arms.

"Whatever, just don't get in my way! We're here to scope the place out and see how much effort it will take to obliterate these humans and find Malebolgia. Then we'll kill him and his pathetic little princesses, especially that damned Belial…" Blaze nods, and then notices Bubbles and Buttercup. The two puffs have set down their groceries and moved in. Buttercup catches Blaze's look and goes into a defensive stance. Blood looks up at the two puffs and grins. "Well, Well, Well, and I thought today would be boring,"

"Who are you two? And what are you doing here?" asks Buttercup, narrowing her eyes at Blood's comment. Blaze straightens up a little looking Bubbles up and down, her gaze stopping on Bubbles' feet for a moment, before moving back up to her eyes. Blood grins and cracks her knuckles.

"Name's Blood, and this weak little queer next to me is Blaze. We're just here on personal business, but we'll gladly kick your asses," Bubbles goes into a defensive stance, looking back and forth between Blood and Blaze.

"Well I'm Buttercup and this is my sister Bubbles. We're two of the Powerpuff Girls and if you're looking for a fight feel free to start something," Blood's grin becomes eviler.

"Fine then Butterbitch, I'll be glad to take you. The wimp will take your sister." Blaze flinches at Blood's insult, and locks eyes with Bubbles. Buttercup flies at Blood and punches her right on the bridge of her nose. Blood doesn't even flinch, she only grins more. "Is that the best you got? You little "Powerpuffs" are powerless against us Darkpuffs!" Blood grabs Buttercup's arm and throws her across the playground. Buttercup spirals and smashes into the jungle gym, tearing it completely apart. She crashes into the ground creating a ditch while she flies backward. Blood chuckles and flies after Buttercup, leaving Blaze to deal with Bubbles.

_Blood and Buttercup_

Buttercup stands up dizzily, just in time to have Blood's fist smash into her stomach. Buttercup doubles over, all of her breath forced from her lungs along with some blood. Blood kicks Buttercup away, sending her flying into the air. Buttercup manages to get her balance and fires a green beam at Blood. Blood catches the beam and easily holds it off with one hand. She fires a maroon beam of her own through Buttercup's. Buttercup quickly flies out of the way and right into Blood's knee. Blood knees Buttercup in the stomach several more times then kicks her back down into the ground. Buttercup crashes into the ground and weakly struggles to sit up.

In under a minute Buttercup is already worn out. She has cuts and scrapes all over her, her right arm feels broken from Blood's kick earlier, she has a large bump on her forehead, and she is coughing up blood every few seconds. Blood appears in front of Buttercup and pushes her back into the ground with her foot. She grins at the weakened puff, her grin filled with sadistic glee.

"Had enough already? We're just getting started B-cup," Buttercup growls weakly and fires her eyebeams at Blood. Blood smacks them aside like they're nothing and grins. She begins crushing Buttercup, driving her further and further into the ground. Buttercup grits her teeth, trying to hold in the pain shooting through her. Blood pushes herself up, using Buttercup as a jumping board, and smashes both her knees into Buttercup's stomach. Buttercup jerks up, coughing out more blood. She falls back onto the ground, her eyes watering and her entire body throbbing in unbearable pain, and yet she still holds it in. Blood grabs Buttercup's hair and lifts her up, Buttercup hissing in pain. She then swings Buttercup and smashes her into the ground. She continues doing this a few more times before she throws Buttercup into the air. Blood grins, "I'm going to love making you beg for me to kill you,"

_Blaze and Bubbles_

Bubbles watches Blood easily beat the shit out of Buttercup and turns back to Blaze. She is completely terrified, if Blaze is even half as strong as Blood there's no way Bubbles can beat her. Blaze just stares at Bubbles, that same sad/interested look in her eyes. Bubbles gulps and decides she may as well go down in the blaze of glory (pun intended), and charges at Blaze. Blaze just watches her, her eyes watching Bubbles' every movement. Bubbles throws her fist at Blaze, who dodges at the last second. Blaze turns and looks at Bubbles, before getting an impish smile on her face. Before Bubbles can right herself and land, Blaze reaches out and grabs her waist. Bubbles shrieks and then finds herself struggling not to break into giggles when Blaze begins squeezing her waist. Bubbles is able to right herself and land, but her knees are buckling and she is desperately trying to pry Blaze's hands off her waist.

Blaze grins and pulls Bubbles to her. She pulls Bubbles' arms over her head and holds her there with one hand. With her other hand, she reaches up Bubbles' blouse and begins scribbling her fingers over Bubbles' flat tummy. Bubbles tries to hold in her giggles, knowing that she won't be able to stop if she gives in. Blaze swirls her finger in Bubbles' belly button then scribbles up her waist, across her ribs, into her armpit, and back down. Bubbles is now jerking and struggling to get away from Blaze. She kicks Blaze in the shins and knees several times, but doesn't even phase the "Darkpuff". Blaze slowly leads Bubbles backward while she continues tickling the puff's sensitive upper body. Bubbles keeps thrashing and trying to hold back her giggles, but before she can stop herself she gives in and begins giggling like a mad girl. Blaze grins at this and bumps into what she was looking for. While Bubbles is thrashing and giggling Blaze sits down on a little bench she noticed earlier, pulling Bubbles down on her lap.

She continues tickling Bubbles' tummy, the puffs thrashing and jerking movements making Blaze smile and sigh dreamily. Blaze then lets her eyes wander back down to Bubbles' feet. She licks her lips and shoves Bubbles forward. The giggling puff falls to the ground, still giggling and rubbing her stomach trying to make the tickling aftershock go away. Suddenly she shrieks when she feels Blaze grab her ankles and lock them between her knees. Bubbles tries to pull her legs free, but Blaze is too strong. Blaze smiles coyly at Bubbles, dragging one of her fingernails up and down the sole of Bubbles' flip-flop.

"Your name is Bubbles right?" Bubbles nods, now whimpering and struggling harder than before to pull away. "Well you're very pretty Bubbles, and so ticklish. You have such pretty feet too, I wonder…are they ticklish too?" Bubbles begins thrashing harder, but still can't pull her feet from the hold of Blaze's knees.

"Please don't tickle my feet! Anything but that, just please don't tickle my feet!" Bubbles begs her. Blaze traces around the sole of Bubbles' flip-flop with her fingernail, seeming to consider Bubbles' pleas. She then takes her hand off Bubbles flip-flop making Bubbles relax, thinking she was going to let her go. Blaze then flips both of Bubbles shoes off, letting them fall to the ground. Bubbles shrieks and begins pulling away again. Blaze stares at Bubbles' soft creamy white soles, wearing a dreamy expression and a small smile.

She slowly drags one fingernail down Bubbles' left foot, making the puff start laughing and squealing. Blaze's smile grows and she begins scratching one finger along each of Bubbles' wiggling soles. Bubbles screams and laughs, becoming red in the face. Blaze adds another finger on each hand and continues scribbling along the pair of sensitive soles.

"Giddy, Giddy, Giddy, Tickle, Tickle, Tickle little Bubbles" Bubbles screams and laughs more as Blaze adds two more fingers. Finally Blaze adds all five fingers on each hand, tickling all over Bubbles' poor defenseless feet. Bubbles screams, laughs, and cries. She now has no more strength to keep struggling. Blaze stares dreamily at Bubbles' wiggling soles, which are turning a cute shade of pink, and drinks in Bubbles' sweet melodious laughter. She grabs the toes on Bubbles' right foot and pulls them back. She then begins tickling on the base of Bubbles' toes, making her scream louder and begin fighting again. She tickles the spaces in between Bubbles' toes with one hand and scribbles all over her other sole with her other hand. Bubbles hiccups and continues laughing, now falling into silent laughter. She cries and hiccups, not able to find the strength to beg Blaze to stop. Blaze looks up when she hears Buttercup scream in pain and Blood chuckle with sadistic pleasure. She grabs Bubbles' ankles and then begins tickling Bubbles' soles with her tongue. Bubbles laughs harder still, no longer able to do anything but lie there and laugh helplessly. Blaze flicks her tongue along Bubbles' soles, takes long torturous licks up and down, slips her tongue in between Bubbles' toes, and licks her toes. Bubbles begins praying for Blaze to get bored and do something else, or for someone to just kill her and make the horrible tickling stop.

Blaze hears one final scream from Buttercup, this one longer and louder than the last. Blood walks up to her and glares at her, with a disgusted look on her face. Blaze quickly lets go of Bubbles feet and sits there staring at Bubbles, who just lies on the ground and continues to laugh and cry. Blood backhands Blaze, knocking her to the ground. Blaze rolls over and tries to push herself up on her elbows, but is shoved back down by Blood's foot. Blood growls at her and kicks her in the side.

"Come on! It's too late to look for Malebolgia; this took longer than I thought. Come on, we need to get home," Blaze wipes her watery eyes and nods. She stands up and the two vanish. Bubbles is too tired to move, and doesn't even know if Buttercup is still alive. One hour, maybe two, passes and that's when Blossom and the Professor arrive.

"Oh my God! Bubbles! Buttercup!" the Professor runs up to Bubbles and checks on her, while Blossom flies over to check on Buttercup. "Bubbles, honey, are you okay?" Bubbles nods and weakly wipes her eyes before hugging the Professor tightly.

"I'm okay Dad, but Buttercup…"

"DAD! BUTTERCUP NEEDS HELP NOW!" yells Blossom. The Professor picks Bubbles up and runs over to where Buttercup and Blossom are. Buttercup is a battered mess. Her face is barely recognizable, both of her arms are broken in several places, she is missing a few patches of hair, her legs are broke, and she is covered in blood and lying in a huge pool of it. Blossom lifts Buttercup gently, making her moan in pain.

"Take her back to my lab now! Get her cleaned up and somewhat patched up. We'll be home as soon as we can." Blossom nods and takes off, being careful to keep from causing her sister any more pain. The Professor looks at Bubbles. "Who did this to you girls?" Bubbles gulps.

"They called themselves the Darkpuffs, Dad." The Professor walks back to the car with Bubbles, making sure to pick up her shoes on the way, and together they drive back to their house breaking several speed limits. A girl the same age as the puff peeks out from the bushes near the kindergarten building. She has medium length red hair that is faded black in several places and bright yellow eyes.

"Oh no…they know where we are…Daddy's not going to like this…"


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

After the Utoniums drive off, the puff that had been hiding in the bushes steps out. She wears a long sleeved green shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She paces back and forth nervously, biting her fingernails. Finally she stops, takes a deep breath and vanishes with the sound of rushing wind.

_In an Endless Void_

The puff appears on a large rock floating in an endless void. She looks up at the shadowed throne on the opposite end and gulps.

"I'm home daddy," The figure in the throne looks away from the images floating in the void and grins at the puff.

"Oh my dear Bomb! How was your little trip to Earth, dear?" he says in a falsetto. Bomb rubs her arm and looks down at the ground, digging into it with her foot. The figure on the throne can tell there's something wrong. "Why Bomb, what's wrong?" Bomb gulps again and looks up at him.

"Th-Th-They know where we are. They were in Townsville, they're trying to find where we are so they can k-k-kill us," The figure in the throne leans forward, revealing none other than Him! Him scratches his chin and gulps. After choosing his words carefully, and making sure he keeps all of the fear out of his voice, he turns back to his daughter.

"…They won't find us. I've been planning this for far too long, I'm not about to let him beat us. Go get your sisters…we'll discuss how we're going to handle this," Bomb nods.

"Okay Daddy," She turns and walks to the edge of the floating rock. She takes a step over the edge and completely vanishes.

_On Another Rock in the Void_

Bomb appears on a new rock. This one is clearly a bedroom. It has a bed in the center on the top part, a dresser, a nightstand next to the bed, a stereo, a TV with several videogame stations connected to it, and a computer in the corner. Lying on the bed, on her stomach, is a puff with long green hair in a high ponytail. She is wearing a schoolgirl uniform, with a white top and blue skirt, and glasses cover her pretty blue eyes. She dangles her bare feet off the edge of her bed, while her attention is completely focused on the Gameboy she is playing.

Bomb grins impishly and rakes her fingernails down the puff's bare feet. The puff jumps and squeals, dropping her Gameboy. Bomb jumps on her back and begins tickling her sides.

"Hiya Battly! Whatcha doin?" Battle shrieks and starts trying to roll away from Bomb, all the while laughing her head off. She finally rolls over and immediately attacks Bomb's ribs. Bomb squeals and begins laughing, but continues her own tickling attack on Battle. The two continue their tickle fight for a few minutes, before they both stop. Still laughing they hug each other, Bomb sliding off Battle onto the bed beside her. Battle takes off her glasses and wipes her eyes, still giggling a little. Bomb smiles at her sister and waits for her to regain her composure. Battle wipes off her glasses and puts them back on, and then turns to Bomb.

"Hiya Bomby, what's up?" she asks. Bomb's smile fades and she gulps.

"When I was visiting earth today…I saw Blaze and Blood…" Battle's face becomes pale.

"D-D-Do th-th-they know we're here?" Bomb shakes her head.

"They know we're connected to Townsville, but they don't know how to get here. Daddy wants to see all of us so we can talk about what we're gonna do," Battle relaxes a little, then goes to a door that is on the edge of her "room". She opens it revealing a closet that is strange because the door is just that, a door. It isn't connected to anything. She grabs a pair of sandals and puts them on.

"Okay…good luck telling Belial," Bomb turns pale and grins nervously at Battle.

"You're not REALLY gonna make me go into Belial's room alone, are you!" Battle gulps.

"I'm not going back in there again! You remember what she did to me last time!" says Battle, her voice now shaking.

"I can't go in Belial's room by myself!" replies Bomb, whose voice is also shaking. Battle swallows the lump forming in her throat. She can still feel every second of the torture Belial put her through. Bomb's eyes are watering, and she's shaking. "Please Battly, don't make me go in there by myself," Battle finally caves and nods.

"Okay…I'll go with you…" Bomb hugs her tightly. Neither of them can tell you that they hate Belial. They love her…but only because she is their sister. They both feel terrible for being so terrified of their "big" sister, but they can't change the way they feel. Belial scares them almost as much as the other three Darkpuffs do.

They both walk to the edge of Battle's room and gather their courage before taking another step and vanishing into the void.

_On Another Rock in the Void_

They appear on a third rock. This one is also clearly a bedroom. There is a bed in one corner, with straps made of insanely strong material on the headboard and footboard. There is a bookshelf with tons of magazines and movies on it, all of them inappropriate for kids the Darkpuffs' age. There is a computer in one corner with a desktop image depicting a woman in ticklish agony, and a TV on an entertainment center positioned for perfect viewing from the bed. On the TV at the moment is the Utonium Household, specifically focused on Blossom who is apparently having a nightmare of some sort. There is a stereo on top of the dresser, which is currently playing Devil's Dance by Metallica.

Bomb and Battle look around nervously, but can't see any sign of Belial.

"Sh-She's not here, let's just get out of here before she gets back and finds us in here," whispers Battle. Bomb nods and the two begin backing up, only to run into something around their size. Both of them shriek and jump, but are yanked back down by someone. Belial puts her arms around her sisters' shoulders and grins devilishly at them.

"Well, well, well, what are my dear baby sisters doing in MY room?" Bomb and Battle are trembling, and Battle is just about to start crying. Belial slips her arm off Battle's shoulder and around her waist. Battle whimpers and tries to pull away. Belial tightens her grip on Battle and begins tickling her side. Battle shrieks and begins laughing and trying to get away. Belial wraps her other arm around Bomb and begins tickling her ribs. Both of her sisters shriek with laughter and try to get away, having no luck against Belial's much superior strength. "What's the matter? You came to see me, so obviously you wanted to play with me," Battle's glasses fall off while she's thrashing to get away from Belial. Bomb isn't nearly as ticklish as Battle, but at the same time Belial knows exactly what she's doing and has Bomb laughing and struggling just as hard as Battle. "If you didn't come here to play with me, what did you come here for, hmmm?" asks Belial in a condescending tone. Bomb tries to get control long enough to tell her, but can't stop laughing. Finally she finds her voice just long enough to shriek out a reply.

"DaddywantstoseeusbecausetheyknowwereconnectedtoTOWNSVILLE!" she shrieks and goes back laughing hysterically. Belial continues tickling them for a few more minutes then lets go of them and shoves them to the ground. They lie there giggling and hiccupping for a few minutes, trying to regain their composure.

"Well you two had better get back to Daddy before I decide I'm not through with you," they both scramble to their feet and run past Belial out of the room, Battle picking up her glasses on the way. Belial grins and sits down on her bed, watching Blossom roll around and mutter in her sleep. "I'm so not through with you yet, I made you a promise and I intend to keep it," She grins evilly and turns off her TV, before leaving to go meet with Him.


	4. Nowhere Is Safe

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

Blossom sits up in bed, breathing heavily and sweating. She winces, and then looks over at Bubbles to make sure she didn't wake her up. Bubbles is lying on her side, dead to the world. Blossom sighs, glad that she hadn't woken her sister when she snapped awake. She climbs out of bed and walks downstairs. She flinches and looks over her shoulder at the smallest sound.

"Good grief Blossom, get a hold of yourself. You're in your house with your dad and your sisters, there's no way she's going to show up. You're safe here," She gets a glass of water and decides to go check on Buttercup before going back to bed. She opens the door to the lab and carefully walks down the stairs. She stops in the lab's infirmary and walks up beside Buttercup. Buttercup is mostly just one big cast, both of her arms and legs had been broken, she had a major concussion, four broken ribs, her lungs had both been punctured, her kneecaps had been broken, and her collar bone was broken in several places. If it hadn't been for Buttercup's powers, she'd have died a long time before the Professor and Blossom had arrived. Blossom gently kisses Buttercup's forehead and walks out of the infirmary. She passes by the training room, and hears something strange. The door is partially open, so she peaks in.

The Danger Grid has been activated, and within there is the setting of an abandoned warehouse with some strange chair with stocks on the end. Blossom shivers, and walks into the room to shut down the system. The door behind her creaks and closes making her jump, but before she can shriek someone's hand clamps around her mouth. Blossom's blood turns to ice in her veins and her entire body goes numb. She drops her glass, which smashes and shatters against the floor. She turns around and looks into the cold, heartless pale blue eyes from yesterday. She tries to scream, instead hisses in pain when Belial pulls her arm behind her and yanks it upward, sending pain shooting through Blossom. Blossom's eyes water and tears leak down her face. Belial just grins at her.

"Hey Babe, you didn't really think I was going to go back on my promise did you?" Blossom's eyes widen, and she begins trying to get away from Belial, to at least scream for help. Belial just yanks up on Blossom's arm, making her freeze from the pain. Blossom looks into Belial's eyes, pleading for her to just go away. As if reading her mind, Belial grins more evilly. "Between you and me, I don't plan on leaving for a long time," Belial shoves Blossom into the Danger Grid, the door closing behind them. Belial let's go of Blossom's mouth and grabs her other arm. Blossom immediately begins screaming for help. "Don't waste your breath, no one can hear you," Blossom begins walking backward, well is pushed backward by Belial.

"Why are you doing this to me! Why don't you go bother someone else!" Belial stops and pretends to consider her offer, but then smirks at Blossom.

"Because watching a strong, pretty girl like yourself scream and beg for mercy is a thrill like no other," Blossom trips over something, and realizes she is now sitting in the chair she'd seen earlier. She shrieks, and soon finds her arms locked above her head. In just a few more seconds, the stocks are locked on her ankles, rendering her completely helpless to whatever Belial has planned. Belial sits down on Blossom's thighs, grabs Blossom's chin, and locks eyes with her. Blossom whimpers and tries to look away, but finds she can't. Belial grins and brushes Blossom's hair out of her face. "It's just you and me for the next five hours Babe, and I made sure to bring plenty of toys for us to play with," Blossom tries to hold in her sobs, but one gets through as a single tear leaks down her cheek. Belial grins and wipes the tear away, licking her finger after word.

"That's right Babe, cry for me," Belial slides one finger down Blossom's arm and swirls it around in her armpit. In her current state, Blossom can't fight the tickling and begins giggling. Belial adds her other hand, and does the same thing to Blossom's other armpit. Blossom giggles more, trying to pull away from the tickling. Whatever the chair is made of; however, it doesn't give in the least. Belial then runs her fingers down and tickles Blossom's ribs through the thin fabric of her nightie. Blossom squeals and giggles harder. Belial leans forward and begins licking/tickling Blossom's neck, making her giggle more and thrash more. She slides her hands down, then slips them up Blossoms nightie and begins tickling her stomach. Blossom begins laughing as Belial's expert fingers dance across her poor ticklish tummy and swirl in her belly button. Belial keeps tickling Blossom's belly with one hand and begins tickling her ribs with the other. Blossom shrieks and begins laughing hard. She bucks and thrashes, begging Belial to stop.

"Stop? But Babe, I haven't gotten to the best part yet! This is just the warm up," Belial slides down Blossom's thighs, and begins tickling them and her knees. Blossom hiccups and laughs, doing what little she can to try to throw Belial off her. Belial's desire finally gets the best of her, and she slips off Blossom's legs. Blossom slowly calms down, hoping it's over but knowing in her heart that the worst is still to come. Belial pulls up a stool and sits down, looking at Blossom's wiggling feet. Blossom looks at Belial, losing her voice and simply babbling for her not to tickle her feet. Belial grins at her and leans on the stocks, locking eyes with Blossom. "Sounds like someone's got some really ticklish feet. Hmm…as cute as it is, all of that wiggling could really get in the way of our playtime. I think we'll have to do something about that,"

Belial reaches into a sack beside her that Blossom hadn't noticed earlier. She pulls out two pieces of string and ties the big toe of Blossom's left foot to a metal ring on the stocks. She does the same to Blossom's right foot. She pulls out two more strings and does the same to Blossom's baby toes, followed by the rest of her toes. Blossom's feet are now completely immobile. Blossom tries to move her feet, but realizes this horrifying truth. Belial grins, drinking in the sight before her. She then slowly reaches up and slides one finger down Blossom's sole, grinning and loving the feel of the velvety soft skin. Blossom immediately begins giggling. Belial continues gently tickling Blossom's soft sole. Blossom squeals and giggles, the fact that her feet are completely immobilized making it tickle much more. Belial adds all five fingers on both hands and begins tickling both of Blossom's incredibly soft and ticklish feet. Blossom screams and laughs harder, tears spilling down her face.

"That's it Babe, cry for me!" Belial tickles between Blossom's toes and along the base of her toes. Blossom thrashes and cries, praying for some kind of miracle to make this stop. But no such miracle arrives; instead Belial reaches into the bag and pulls out a feather. She begins stroking it up and down Blossom's right foot, while tickling her left foot with her fingers. Blossom screams and laughs, quickly losing the strength to thrash and fight against her binds. Belial finds a second feather and begins using it to torture Blossom's other foot. She saws between Blossom's toes, tickles along the base of her toes, strokes up and down her soles, and tickles her toes. She turns one feather around and begins scribbling along Blossom's sole with the pointed end. Blossom screeches and laughs harder than before. Her throat is beginning to get sore, her face is beat red, and she is crying hysterically.

"You know, I love you Blossom. You've got the prettiest feet I've ever had the pleasure of working with. And believe you me, I'm going to really show you pure ticklish agony," Belial grins then looks off to the side. "You know what the best part is? I have a video camera set up recording every second of this beautiful work of art. I'll be able to watch it any time I want," Blossom can't even hear Belial, her brain is completely overwhelmed by the unbearable tickling. Belial puts the feathers away and pulls out two toothbrushes, one is a normal toothbrush and the other is electric.

"Tell me which one tickles more Babe," Belial begins tickling Blossom's left foot with the electric toothbrush and her right foot with the normal toothbrush. Blossom screams, falling instantly into torturous silent laughter. Belial moves the electric toothbrush all over Blossom's foot, making sure to spend plenty of time between her toes and on the base of her toes. With her other hand she scrapes the torturous bristles all over Blossom's foot with incredible speed and skill. Blossom goes limp, unable to do anything but laugh and cry. Belial then scoots over and focuses all of her efforts on Blossom's left foot, using the manual toothbrush on her sole and the electric toothbrush on her toes. Blossom hiccups and snorts, completely consumed by the unbearable tickling. After about five minutes Belial switches to Blossom's right foot. Blossom's head jerks up and her laughs become audible again, taken by surprise by the switch. She screams and weakly wiggles her feet…or at least tries to; right now wishing God would just strike her dead to put an end to the horrible tickling. Belial grins and drops the toothbrushes, going back to using her fingers on Blossom's feet. Blossom is able to pull herself out of the ticklish fog that is clouding her brain just long enough to beg Belial to stop.

"P-

please…stop…" Is all she can get out before she once more falls back into her completely hazy state of ticklishness. Belial stops tickling Blossom's feet and reaches into the bag, pulling out a bottle of lotion. She squeezes some onto her hand and begins rubbing it into Blossom's feet. Blossom giggles from Belial's occasional quick tickles, but over all begins to enjoy the foot massage. Belial massages both of Blossom's bright pink feet, adding more lotion every now and then. Blossom slowly begins slipping out of the hazy mindedness and instead begins slipping into a completely relaxed state. This continues for around twenty minutes, Belial just massaging more and more lotion into Blossom's poor ticklish feet, and Blossom slipping closer and closer to falling asleep. Belial scoots over and focuses all of her efforts on Blossom's right foot for five minutes, making sure to massage the lotion into every inch of Blossom's pretty foot. She moves over to Blossom's left foot and does the same, slowly massaging away all of the calluses on Blossom's feet. After about thirty minutes of just massaging Blossom's feet, Belial finally gets them how she wants them. Completely callus free and baby-soft. Belial stops and looks up at her tickle-toy, grinning evilly. She puts the now empty bottle of lotion back in the bag and pulls out two brushes. She then immediately begins scrubbing Blossom's feet, which have become much softer and far more ticklish due to the lotion Belial had been massaging into them. Blossom jerks out of her sleepy state and begins screaming with laughter.

"You like what I've done? I made your already beautifully ticklish and soft feet even more soft and ticklish." Blossom screams, cries, bucks, thrashes, and laughs. It feels exactly like what Belial had said, it was like her feet were a hundred times more ticklish than they'd ever been in her entire life. Sure her feet had always been her most ticklish spot, but this was just insane. She remembered wetting herself sometime ago, but only vaguely through the ticklish fog of her mind. Belial continues tickling her with the brushes for almost twenty minutes, and then she drops them back in the bag, ready for her favorite part.

"Are you ready Blossom? This is the part I like the best. If you thought I was tickling you before, you've never been tickled like this before," Belial slides off the stool and kneels down in front of Blossom's left foot. She grabs the back of it and leans forward, slipping her tongue out. She licks up and down Blossom's foot with torturously slow strokes. Blossom's eyes nearly pop out of her head, and she goes limp with silent laughter again after bucking so hard she pulls herself off the chair as much as she physically can. Belial flicks her tongue around Blossom's sole, going in a circular pattern. Blossom's foot weakly twitches every so often, but other than that and her heaving laughter, Blossom isn't doing much moving. Belial becomes completely absorbed in her work, her eyes closed and a dreamy smile on her face. She slides her mouth over Blossom's big toe and gives it its own personal torture session. She continues this with Blossom's other toes. She licks the spaces between Blossom's toes, takes long slow strokes up and down Blossom's sole, sneaks in a few kisses every now and then, nibbles a little on her toes, and tickles all of her toes individually once more. She then scoots over to Blossom's right foot, repeating the slow process. Blossom is now on the border of sanity and insanity. Belial's skilled tongue is slowly driving her over the edge.

Finally just when she thinks she's going to completely go crazy, Blossom feels Belial stop licking her foot. Belial stands up and walks over to the camera she'd mentioned earlier. She zooms it in on Blossom's beat red face, which is streaked with tears. Blossom is still weakly giggling, each little laugh causing pain to shoot through her tired body. Belial grins and turns the camera off, taking the tape out. She walks up to Blossom and grabs her chin. She turns her face up to her. Belial grins evilly as she looks into Blossom's puffy red eyes. Blossom's eyes are distant and glazed, but it is very clear that she's willing to do anything Belial asks her to, if it will make Belial let her go. Belial leans down and licks Blossom's cheek, savoring the salty taste of her tears. She then presses her lips against Blossom's, slipping her tongue in Blossom's mouth. Blossom is completely disgusted, but she doesn't turn away. For one, she doesn't have the strength to even try, and for another pulling away may make Belial angry. And making Belial angry was something Blossom wanted to avoid at all costs. Belial breaks the kiss, and grins at Blossom, who is resisting the urge to throw up.

"It was fun Babe, we'll have to do it again sometime. Until then, I'll leave a copy of the tape for your family to see," Blossom's eyes widen in fear. She struggles to get her voice to work but nothing will come out. Belial grins, kissing Blossom's cheek and licking away the stream of tears. "I told you I'm a good liar. I wouldn't waste my time making a copy of this tape for anyone." Blossom relaxes a little, wishing Belial would just go away. She got what she came for didn't she? Belial stands up straight and walks to the door of the Danger Grid. It slides open and Belial walks out, shutting down the simulation she created. Blossom falls to the ground with a thud, far too tired to even move. Before she passes out, Blossom hears Belial's voice over the intercom.

"I can't wait to get to play with you again Babe, we'll have a load of laughs," Belial laughs evilly and teleports out of the Utonium House, leaving Blossom to pass out tired, sore, and in a puddle of her own urine.


	5. The Morning After: Lightning War

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

_Blossom looks into Belial's cold, heartless pale blue eyes. She feels her own eyes well up with more tears, which begin pouring down. Belial grins and licks the tears away from Blossom's cheek. She then kisses her hard on the lips, slipping her tongue into Blossom's mouth. Blossom immediately has to resist the urge to either throw up, or bite Belial's tongue. After far too long for Blossom's liking, Belial pulls away._

_"I'll just leave a copy of this tape for your family to see," Blossom's eyes widen and she struggles to get her voice to work. Belial grins and says something that Blossom can't make out. She relaxes though, feeling that she should. Belial kisses her cheek, and then licks away her tears again. She looks into Blossom's eyes. "Blossom wake up. Come on Blossom, please wake up!"_

_"Huh? What?" Belial's eyes are now light green and her hair is black._

_"Come on Blossom, please wake up," her voice sounds scared for some reason. Blossom feels warm for some reason…and wet…_

Blossom opens her eyes and looks up at the bathroom ceiling. She jumps, but is caught and gently lowered back down. She turns, expecting to see Belial next to her. Instead she sees Buttercup, who has almost completely recovered. She only has on her nightclothes, a baggy green t-shirt and black sweatpants. She still has the bandages wrapped around her head, but other than that she's completely okay. Blossom looks around and realizes she's in the bathroom, more specifically in a nice warm bath. She lies back, noticing Buttercup relax as well.

"Geez Bloss, you gave me a real scare. I woke up and took off the bandages I didn't need. Then I go to the training room to work out a little and I find you out cold and…uh…lying in a pool of…" Blossom gulps and slides down into the warm water. She sighs happily, feeling much safer now that one of her sisters is with her. Buttercup leans on the edge of the bathtub. She brushes some of Blossom's wet hair out of her eyes. "So when are you going to tell me what happened?" Blossom opens one eye, sits up, and sighs. She pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs her legs.

"…Do I have to?" Buttercup puts her hand on Blossom's shoulder.

"Hey come on. It's me, Buttercup. You know you can tell me anything," Blossom hesitates for a moment, then relaxes and lays back. Buttercup sits back and gets comfortable.

"You know how ye…I mean two days ago I came home from the library and completely ignored you guys?" Buttercup nods. "Well…I was attacked when I walked past the park. There was this puff there, she had long pink hair, these horrible pale blue eyes, and she had this upside down cross necklace," Buttercup shivers unconsciously. "Well she walked up to me and introduced herself, so I tried to be nice. When I was about to leave she attacked me. We fought a little, but she completely outclassed me in everyway…then she got me on the ground and…"

"Yeah go on, what'd she do?" asks Buttercup, now leaning on the edge of the tub again.

"She…t…tickled…me. She held me down and tickled me until I cried. It was horrible, she's so much stronger than me and I couldn't do anything to fight back," Buttercup nods.

"Yeah, that had to suck. But she let you go obviously, right?" Blossom nods, "So what's she have to do with this?"

"Well…I was having a nightmare and woke up. I got a drink and decided to check on you before going to bed. I walked past the training room and there was a simulation activated in the Danger Grid. So when I went in to shut it down, she closed the door behind me and grabbed me. Before I knew what was really happening she'd pulled me into the Danger Grid and locked me to this weird chair…then she…"

"She tickled you again?" Blossom nods, her eyes watering and her breathing quickening. Buttercup pulls Blossom over to the edge of the bathtub and hugs her. Blossom caves the second she's in Buttercup's safe embrace and begins crying while she relates the entire story to Buttercup. After she's finished Buttercup holds her and waits for Blossom to regain control. Blossom pulls away and sits in the tub, blushing. Buttercup motions for Blossom to lie back. Blossom does so, and Buttercup begins washing her hair. Blossom, still blushing, looks up at Buttercup.

"You don't…you don't think I'm a baby do you?" Buttercup stops rinsing Blossom's hair and looks in Blossom's eyes.

"Of course not Bloss. I'd probably be a mess just like you if that'd happened to me." Blossom smiles.

"Thanks BC…" Buttercup finishes washing Blossom's long hair and kisses her on the forehead.

"Hey that's what sister's are for Bloss, I love ya," Buttercup washes Blossom, letting her sister relax after her ordeal. When Blossom's cleaned off, Buttercup drains the water and helps dry her off. Blossom giggles at Buttercup. "Hey, what're you giggling about?" Blossom giggles again and kisses Buttercup on the cheek.

"It's just so funny seeing you fuss over me. Thanks BC, I love you too," Buttercup wraps the towel around Blossom and hugs her tightly.

"I promise if that loser tries to do that to you again, I'll kick her butt," Blossom hugs Buttercup back and smiles at the thought, although she's not sure if Buttercup would even be able to make Belial flinch. Blossom grins and tickles Buttercup's sides, making her jump and giggle. "Hey cut it out!" Blossom giggles and tickles her for a few more seconds before stopping. Buttercup smiles at Blossom, then wraps her arm around her neck and ruffles her hair. "You're asking for it Bloss," Blossom giggles and pulls away from Buttercup, going to the mirror and combing her hair. Buttercup stands beside her, shrugs, then grabs her toothbrush and toothpaste and starts brushing her teeth. The door opens and a half-asleep Bubbles walks in. She stands on Blossom's other side, pick up her own toothbrush and begins brushing her teeth. Blossom and Buttercup look at her, and then look at each other. Bubbles yawns and opens her eyes. She spits in the sink and looks at her sisters.

"Since when are you guys up this early?" she asks. Blossom sets the brush down and begins brushing her own teeth. Buttercup spits in the sink and wipes her mouth off.

"We um…kinda had a visitor last night…uh…yeah…" Blossom finishes brushing her teeth and gargles a little mouthwash. She spits it out and wipes her mouth off.

"I'll tell you while we're getting ready for school," Bubbles nods and brushes her hair, confused and interested. While the three are getting dressed, Blossom tells Bubbles everything that had happened. When she finishes, Bubbles is wide-eyed and trembling. Buttercup fills her in on everything that happened after Blossom passed out.

"So she just came in here, dragged you into the Danger Grid and tickled you for hours!" asks Bubbles in a disbelieving voice. Blossom swallows a lump in her throat and nods. Bubbles hesitates for a moment. "That's like what that puff I fought yesterday did to me." Buttercup and Blossom look up at her. "She just grabbed me and started tickling me. I don't remember how long she tickled me, but then she just let me go and left with her sister," Blossom ties her hair up in a ponytail and thinks about all of this. Three mysterious puffs that are all much stronger than any of them are. Looking at how much damage that one did to Buttercup, it's obvious that if they got serious they could kill them with no trouble. Buttercup raises an eyebrow.

"Hey wait, the puff that tickled you was named Belial right Blossom?" Blossom nods, "Hey Bubs, didn't Blood say something about someone named Belial?" Bubbles think back, and then she too nods. "And it wasn't something good…maybe those two, Blaze and Blood, and their sister are fighting against Belial?"

"Wait, didn't Blood also say something like…they were looking for a Male-bol-gi-a?" Buttercup nods. "And she called Belial one of Male-bol-gi-a's little princesses."

"So Belial must have two sisters like we do, and they're all the daughters of this Malebolgia guy," Buttercup sits down on the bed and thinks about it. The Professor knocks on their door to wake them up.

"Wake up girls, it's a school day!" Blossom opens the door, surprising the Professor.

"We're already up Dad," The Professor looks in and sees all three of them dressed and getting their books together.

"Well then…um…come down stairs for breakfast…"

"Okay Dad," they all reply.

_At School_

Blossom is sitting in class, finishing up a math test. Just as she finishes, her hotline cell phone suddenly rings. She jumps a little due to having it set on vibrate. She answers it, blushing when she notices the whole class staring at her.

"Yes Mayor, what's the trouble?" The mayor babbles something to her, making her eyes widen. "O-o-okay Mayor, we're on it," She hangs up and turns to her teacher, "C-Can I be excused, I uh have to uh save Townsville?" The teacher nods. Blossom dashes out of the room, sends a message to her sisters on the communicator watches the Professor made for them. Bubbles and Buttercup meet her outside.

"Okay Bloss, what's the trouble?" asks Buttercup.

"According to the Mayor...there are to girls making some trouble downtown, and they have powers like us," Bubbles and Buttercup go pale. "Come on, we need to check it out," Together they fly off to deal with whatever trouble there is.

_Downtown Townsville_

Battle and Bomb have caused a huge traffic jam, torn a few fire hydrants loose, and have generally caused minimum mayhem in an attempt to get to girls' attention. While Battle is looking in the window of an electronics store, her eyes sparkling blue hearts while she looks at all of the computer software, Bomb sneaks up behind her and giggles as she tickles her sides. Battle squeals and jumps, putting her arms down in an attempt to save herself from her sister's playful tickle attack.

"Hey cut it out! That's not fair!" Battle continues giggling. Bomb smiles and continues her little playful assault.

"Oh come on Battly, you know you love it!" Battle nods, her glasses almost slipping off her face. Bomb stops and hugs Battle, who pushes her glasses back up and giggles again before hugging Bomb back.

"You're the best sister in the world Bomby…I wish Belial was nicer…or wasn't around at all," Bomb adjusts Battle's glasses so that they're not sitting crooked on her face.

"There that's better…yeah me too…Belial's too mean, she's not fun to play around with at all," Battle nods and looks up at the sky.

"Hey they're here!" Bomb looks up and smiles.

"Awesome! This should be lots of fun!" The girls land across the street from Battle and Bomb and look them over. These two don't seem nearly as evil as Blood or Belial, but at the same time they have a mischievous aura about them.

"Alright, who are you and what are you up to?" Asks Blossom. Battle and Bomb move into defensive stances, both grinning mischievously.

"I'm Battle,"

"And I'm Bomb"

"And we're here to fight you," They say at the same time. The girls sweatdrop, but quickly shift into their own defensive stances. Before the fight even begins, both Battle and Bomb jump and straighten up. They both tremble now seemingly scared out of their minds. Battle is trembling so much her glasses are sliding down her nose, making her push them back up. "Oh no, not her. Anyone but her, please let it be Belial and not her," says Bomb, her voice shaking as much as she is. Blossom's eyes widen upon hearing that. These two would rather Belial show up than whoever it is they felt appear. "Please, Please, Please be Belial. At least she's our sister!" whispers Battle, just loud enough for the other puffs to hear her. They hear a rush of air and turn when they hear something land nearby.

Standing in the middle of the street is a puff with long black hair, tied in two ponytails that wrap around each other in a double helix, and part halfway down. Dangling in front of her eyes are two spiky lovelocks. She has fiery red eyes, red eyes brimming with evil. She wears a black tank top, a black skirt and black boots. She has a red aura surrounding her, an aura that gives off the sense of death. She slowly walks toward them, taking steady, precise steps. Battle and Bomb are both breathing so hard it's a wonder they aren't hyperventilating. The puff sneers, and begins gathering energy in her left hand.

"What's wrong, you weaklings look scared," She says in a cold, heartless voice. Bomb trips and grabs Battle's arm. They both fall to the ground, still trembling and scooting back from the puff.

"B-B-Belial's not here…g-g-go away and you can fight her later, please?" begs Bomb.

"Y-Y-Y-Yeah, why do you want to f-f-f-f-fight us Blitz? We're w-w-way too w-weak," Blitz appears in front of them. She kicks Battle across the face, shattering her glasses and sending her crashing through a building. She kicks backward with the same leg and hits Bomb in the chest. She goes spiraling back, crashing through a building. Battle climbs out of the rubble, and coughs up blood. She opens her eyes, but without her glasses the world is just a blur of shapes that she can't make out. A black blur appears in front of her and kicks her in the chin, sending her flying into the air. Blitz appears behind her and backhands her, sending her crashing into Bomb. Bomb catches Battle at the last second, and both go tumbling back. Blitz reappears in front of the puffs and looks at them.

"You must be the Powerpuff Girls…pathetic, Blood should have finished you off Buttercup, and you Bubbles…Blaze is a freak, Father should have sent me instead of her." Battle and Bomb slowly climb out of the rubble, Battle clinging to Bomb for dear life.

"Bomb…BOMB! She broke my glasses!" she buries her face in Bomb's shoulder and cries. Bomb hugs her, but doesn't know anything she can do. They'd have to get Battle some new glasses later, but right now they had more important things to do, like surviving. Blitz raises her hand, her eyes still locked on the puffs and fires a ball of black energy with lightning crackling around it at Battle and Bomb. Bomb sees this and teleports away with Battle as quick as she can. Blitz lowers her hand.

"Weaklings…this entire universe is full of weaklings. My Father deserves to rule over this pathetic realm," The puffs are all trembling. This new puff had just easily taken down two Darkpuffs at once, how could they even touch her? Blitz snorts and raises her hand.

"I've got better things to do than waste my time with you. Blitzkrieg!" Her hand fires a bolt of black lightning into the sky. The sky turns dark and more dark lightning rains down on the planet. The puffs fly for cover, leaving Blitz alone. "This is going to be easier than we could have ever hoped, I need to report back to Father," Blitz teleports away. The Blitzkrieg stops, and the puffs come out of hiding. Most of the area has been completely vaporized, leaving several people dead. The puffs look at each other.

"We need to talk to Dad," they say at the same time, before flying off to talk to the Professor.


	6. Chemical Enhancement: Coochi Coo Tomboy

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

The girls land outside their suburban home and rush in, heading immediately for the lab. They trip over each other going down the stairs and land in a heap at the bottom. The Professor looks over his shoulder to see what the commotion is.

"DAD!" the girls shout in unison.

"Girls? Why are you home so early?" They untangle themselves and rush over to him. One by one they tell him the entire story, starting with when Blossom fought Belial the first time, and finishing with the "fight" with Blitz today. When they finish they all catch their breath while the Professor goes over everything in his head. He nods then turns back to what he was working on. The girls, curious as to what it is, float behind him and peak over his shoulders. "I've been trying to find some way to lower, or best case scenario take away the power gap between the three of you and these "Darkpuffs". I found a tape from a security camera in a nearby store where you two fought Blaze and Blood, and I've been going over the fight," the girls nod, keeping quiet while they listen," Apparently based on my studies these Darkpuffs have somehow had their full potential released, thus making them far stronger than you girls."

"Their full potential? What do you mean Dad?" Asks Bubbles. The Professor scratches his chin and thinks of the simplest way to answer her question.

"Well your potential is basically what you are capable of. You girls train to try to become stronger, and try to reach your "full power". These Darkpuffs were born or somehow achieved their full potential. They are as strong as they can ever become at their age. As you grow, your potential grows. So you see, they don't have to do any training at all, their power will simply keep increasing with age until they hit their prime. From then on their power will remain the same. I've been working on something that will have this same effect on you three,"

"Really? That's so cool Dad! Is it ready?" asks Buttercup eagerly. The Professor shakes his head and motions toward the vile of glowing multi-colored liquid in front of him.

"I think I've completed it, however I haven't had any time to test it…and I don't want to risk it having some adverse effect on you girls. If I just had more time to test it…but based on the way you described this "Blitz" character, I think time is the one thing we don't have…" The girls look down. Blossom remembers looking into Belial's eyes, seeing the unwavering cockiness in them. Belial knew it was a fact that she was stronger than Blossom was, and there was nothing Blossom could do to fight her. She looks at the vile.

"You can test it on me, Dad," says Blossom in a soft voice. The Professor looks at her disbelievingly.

"Blossom, I can't do that. If I messed up the chemical somehow, it could possibly cause irreparable damage, or even kill you." Blossom looks up at him.

"I don't care…if it can possibly make me strong enough to stand up to Belial, I'll gladly do anything. Next time she tries to mess with me, I want her to have to really work for it," the Professor desperately wants to talk her out of this, but by the look in Blossom's eyes he can see that will never happen. Finally he relents and puts some of the chemical in a sterile syringe. He motions for Blossom to follow him to an operating table. Blossom sits down on it and holds out her arm. Bubbles and Buttercup watch the Professor inject the chemical into Blossom's arm. Almost instantly Blossom's chest heaves and all of her muscles tense. Her eyes roll up in her head and she passes out. Bubbles shrieks and the two fly over to the Professor.

"Dad is she okay? She's not hurt is she?" The Professor shakes his head, gently adjusting Blossom into a more comfortable position.

"No she's just fine…but I'm afraid it will be a while before we see if the chemical has any effect. You two should go look after the city and make sure nothing bad happens while Blossom's out. I'll monitor everything and call you back here when Blossom wakes up," Bubbles and Buttercup nod, then head upstairs to plan everything out. The Professor gets his equipment set up, all the while keeping one eye on Blossom to make sure nothing bad is happening.

_In the Industrial Section of Townsville_

Buttercup flies through the industrial section, keeping her eyes peeled for any kind of crime or danger. As she's flying she spots something violet flash by on the ground. Curious, she flies after it to find out what it was. She lands in a dark alley, keeping her eyes peeled for anything suspicious. She hears someone whisper behind her and spins around.

"Alright show yourself!" Buttercup looks around, but can't find anyone. Off in the distance she hears the sound of metal being bent, but doesn't think much of it. She scratches her head and shrugs. She stretches her arms up as high as she can and yawns mightily. In seconds something flies at her and slams into her. She opens her eyes and realizes it's a metal beam that has been bent into a "U" shape. It is embedded deep in the building behind her, keeping her arms locked above her. "What the heck!" she hears someone laugh and looks up, seeing none other than Belial. "You! You're the puff that's been tormenting Blossom!" Belial grins and walks up to Buttercup.

"That's me Tomboy, whatcha gonna do about it?" Buttercup growls and begins pulling the beam out of the wall. Before she can make any progress, Belial reaches up and begins tickling Buttercup's completely defenseless armpits. Buttercup stops trying to pull herself free, and switches to holding in her giggles. Belial sneers evilly and continues tickling Buttercup's armpits with all ten fingers. Buttercup's face begins turning red, but she still keeps herself under control.

"You're a lot better at this game then Blossom is, I think we're gonna have loads of fun," Belial speeds up her tickling. Buttercup's knees knock together and her chest heaves every time she sucks in a breath of air, but still she keeps from laughing. Belial slows down tickling Buttercup's left armpit and speeds up tickling her right armpit. For several minutes Belial continues adjusting her technique while Buttercup struggles harder and harder to resist the urge to break down laughing. "You know Tomboy, you're awfully tough. I don't think I've ever had someone last this long without laughing when I tickle them. Of course, I still haven't had the glorious pleasure of tickling Blood, Blaze, or that bitch Blitz, but still…kudos to you." Belial moves down and tickles Buttercup's ribs. Buttercup's eyes are beginning to water and her legs are beginning to give out. Belial slips one hand up Buttercup's shirt and tickles her toned belly, while her other hand goes back to tickling her armpit. Buttercup's face is now bright red, her eyes are leaking, and she is holding herself up with her arms.

"Tickle, Tickle, Coochi Coo Tomboy. That's it, cry for me Tomboy." Buttercup's chest begins to burn, and she begins feeling light headed. Belial sticks both hands up her shirt and begins tickling her sides fast and hard with one hand, and slow and soft with the other hand. Finally Buttercup breaks and begins screaming and laughing. Belial's cocky grin turns sadistically evil. "Looks like I found your sweet spot Tomboy," She tickles Buttercup's sides fast and mercilessly hard. Buttercup kicks her legs, thrashes her head, and tries to turn away, but she can't get her super strength under control long enough to tear herself free. She loses her voice and goes into painful silent laughter. Belial rakes her fingernails up and down her sides, then squeezes and kneads them, enjoying every second of Buttercup's pain. Suddenly, Battle appears behind them.

"Belial! Daddy said you need to come home so we can discuss our plans," Belial growls and turns away from Buttercup, glaring at Battle.

"Hell-O! Can't you see I'm busy here!" Battle whimpers and takes a step back. While her attention is focused elsewhere, Buttercup tears herself free from the beam, then grabs part of it and swings it as hard as she can at Belial's head. Belial is taken by complete surprise and slams into a building. She opens her eyes and snarls at Battle when she sees Buttercup quickly fly away. "You miserable little nerd! Thanks to you she got away!" Battle chokes down the lump in her throat and takes another step away from Belial. "I swear by all that is evil and unholy when you get home I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Belial teleports home, leaving behind a terrified Battle. Battle pushes her glasses back up on her nose and gulps before teleporting home.

_At the Utonium House_

Bubbles and Buttercup meet back after receiving a call from the Professor on their communicator watches. Buttercup doesn't tell Bubbles about her encounter with Belial, preferring to not disclose that little meeting to the public. They walk down the stairs and see Blossom sitting up on the operating table, perfectly fine. The Professor finishes a few scans then turns to the girls with a grin on his face.

"I'm proud to say that everything worked perfectly! Aside from the lag it takes for it to take effect, the chemical is a complete success. If you want, I can go ahead and get you two fixed up," Bubbles and Buttercup fly over to the table in a flash. Blossom hops down and looks at her hands. She can feel all of her power, and it's a comforting feeling. Now she can hopefully make Belial pay next time they meet. The Professor injects the chemical into Bubbles and Buttercup, who both react the same way Blossom did before passing out. Blossom goes upstairs and then outside. While her sisters are out, she's the only thing Townsville has to protect it. She flies off into the air, ready to test out her true power.

In the shadows near the house a cloaked figure with fiery red hair watches Blossom fly off. His blue-green eyes sparkle with recognition.

"Soon…soon we'll see if I was right. They could be the ones who will destroy Leviathan once and for all,"

_In Belial's Room In The Endless Void_

Battle is lying on Belial's bed, held down by the unbreakable straps connected to the four corners of it. Her glasses are sitting on Belial's nightstand, carelessly thrown aside. She looks up at the blurry shape she knows is Belial, and the fear completely overwhelms her. Belial grins and sits down beside her sister.

"No one, and I mean no one interrupts my fun, Nerd. And I'm going to make you pay dearly," Battle screams and begins begging Belial to let her go, but her pleas fall on deaf ears.


	7. Secret Desire

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

_Battle's Room in the Endless Void_

Bomb walks into the room, and sees Battle lying on her bed, crying quietly into her pillow. She sits down beside her and puts a hand on her back. Battle jumps, then looks up at Bomb through her bleary vision, which is made worse by the fact she's not wearing her glasses. Battle recognizes the blur and rolls over on her back. Bomb pulls her into an embrace, Battle pretty much throwing herself in Bomb's arms. Bomb rocks Battle, whispers comfortingly to her and strokes her hair. She takes Battle's hair out of its ponytail and runs her fingers through it to get the tangles out. Battle closes her eyes and enjoys the warm, and most importantly safe embrace. After a few minutes, Bomb pulls away and walks over to Battle's dresser. She grabs Battle's hairbrush and walks back over to the bed, sitting down beside Battle. Battle sits up and sighs happily as Bomb brushes her hair.

"What'd she do to you this time, Battly?" Battle's eyes water, but she remains calm and slowly tells Bomb everything. Bomb nods after word and continues brushing Battle's hair. When she's finally satisfied with Battle's hair, Bomb sets the brush down on the nightstand and pulls her back in her arms. Battle curls up in Bomb's arms, smiling up at her "big" sister. Bomb just holds Battle for a few minutes, before her mischievous nature gets control of her. She slips her hand up Battle's shirt and begins lightly tickling her stomach. Battle squeals and giggles, but lets Bomb continue tickling her. Battle pokes her finger in Battle's belly button, making her squeal. Battle pushes against her and begins tickling Bomb's ribs. Bomb shrieks and tickles Battle back. They roll around on the bed, laughing and giggling.

_Deep In the Deepest Part of Hell_

Blaze lies on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. Her room isn't too much different from Belial's, but at the same time it doesn't have the foreboding dark feel Belial's room has. In fact the only big differences are the fact that Blaze doesn't have a computer, she doesn't have a TV, her bed doesn't have the straps on it, and the room is painted in dark reds and purples. Her bed sheets are dark violet, her walls dark red, and her thin carpet is black. She sighs sadly and rolls over, staring off into space. She fondly recalls her little "fight" with Bubbles yesterday. That had been a thrill that had haunted her dreams all night…but at the same time when finally woke up she realized she was crying. She knows she's different, hell she's down right weird. Her sisters only tell her what a freak she is whenever she sees them.

When she got home yesterday, between Blitz's nonstop verbal abuse for being such a freak and Blood's physical abuse for not killing the puff like she was supposed to, Blaze had gone to bed sore and crying. What she'd done to Bubbles was something she dreamed about a lot. Since she was born she always got excited whenever she saw some succubus or some other female demon being tickled. She'd always been too afraid to ever try to tickle someone before. She also quickly learned that she also had the same problem with staring at other girl's feet. Then one day when she was six she got up the courage to tickle Blood. That earned her a swift punch in the mouth, followed by plenty of yelling. When Blitz and Blood found out about her obsession, they made sure to let her know what a freak she is every chance they got. But the one time she finally got the chance to actually tickle someone without worrying about them beating her up, she'd gladly taken it. It had been exciting and exhilarating, but at the same time even while she loved every second she tickled Bubbles' feet she still felt sad and empty. When she woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about that incident, she felt the exact same way.

"It's not fair…what's wrong with me?" She curls up and draws little circles on her pillow with her finger. She imagines what it'd feel like to be at someone's total mercy, like Bubbles was to her yesterday. The thought sends a shiver through her. She stares at her dark violet sheets, and begins thinking. What if she wasn't just at anyone's mercy, but at the mercy of the most sadistic tickler she knows of? She's heard hundreds of stories about her, all of the demons she'd heard telling them had one thing in common. They were all female and they were all completely terrified at the thought of being at her mercy again. She shivers again, thinking about the feel of her fingers crawling across her skin, forcing endless laughter out of her. She rolls over on her back and stares up at the ceiling, stretching her arms and legs out like she's being held down. Her eyes are closed as she continues imagining what it'd be like to be at her complete mercy.

Suddenly someone bangs on her door, snapping her out of her fantasy. Blaze gulps and sits up. Before she can float over to the door, it's yanked open. Blood glares at her, toying with the idea of hitting her just because she can. In the end she decides not to.

"Father's got a job for you, so get dressed and go see him. Don't make me have to come back here and get you," She turns and slams the door shut on her way out. Before she's even out of the room, Blaze is already changing.

"_Who knows? Maybe I'll run into her today…that would be incredible…" _she thinks to herself as she slips on her purple flip-flops.

_Townsville _

Blaze walks down the streets, her arms wrapped around her to keep the fairly strong winds from blowing up her white tank top. She's got her eyes peeled for any sight of Battle, Bomb, or…

"_Belial…come on…please let me run into Belial, please?" _she thinks to herself as she walks slowly through the thin crowds. It's around 4:30 in the afternoon, but luckily there aren't many people on the street. As she walks, she thinks about what she'll do if she DOES run into Belial. She could probably just ask her…but that would feel so fakey. She wants the real deal no strings attached or anything, just the 100 percent legendary "Belial Tickle Torture". She walks past the section of Townsville that Blitz's Blitzkrieg attack had destroyed. "_Blitz did this alright…not that I care, it doesn't matter to me what happens to those humans," _She walks past a warehouse, which is probably one of the only buildings in the area that doesn't seem to have been hit by Blitz's attack. She hears something from the warehouse, and walks up to the door to check it. As she's walking closer and closer, she can feel her heart beating faster and shivers running up and down her spine. She pushes open the door and walks in. Everything is dark and damp; the atmosphere just seems to scream that something is wrong.

Blaze walks up to a strange looking chair, there are cuffs on the high back and at the end of the footrest there is a pair of stocks. She trembles again; this is like something from her fantasies. She hears something fall in the back and quickly turns around. Sitting on a crate with a cocky and very evil grin on her face is Belial. Blaze unconsciously takes a step back, bumping into the chair. Her blood runs cold and she can feel the fear building up in her. But at the same time, the excitement is building. Even though she'd been begging for this to happen, now that she's actually staring into the merciless eyes of the most heartless tickler she'd ever heard of, and probably the most heartless tickler to have ever existed, she can't deny the fear she feels burning in her chest. Belial grins again.

"Well, well, if it isn't Blaze. Tell me, what are you doing out here all alone, hmm? Didn't your daddy teach you it's dangerous to go into a strange building by yourself?" Blaze tries to find her voice, but it's been cut off by the fear. Belial hops off the crate and slowly walks toward Blaze. "But since you're here, we might as well get better acquainted," Blaze moves away from the chair, and begins backing away from Belial. Belial just continues walking toward her, grinning evilly. Blaze's fear gets the best of her, making her turn around and take off running. Belial stops and begins laughing. Blaze reaches the door, and before she can throw it open, it completely vanishes. She stares at the empty wall where it had been. She tries to fly, but can't get off the ground. She stops trying, and suddenly falls to the floor. She stands up and looks up at Belial, who is still grinning at her. "You done yet?" Blaze gulps and runs over to a window, just as she prepares to blast it open, it vanishes like the door. She looks around and notices that there aren't any exits. She tries to power up her eyebeams, but her vision doesn't cloud over and she doesn't feel the energy building up. She looks back, but Belial has vanished. She walks back to where Belial had been standing, nothing, no footprints, or anything. It's almost like Belial hadn't been there at all. Suddenly something grabs her arms from behind. She looks over her shoulder and sees Belial standing there, grinning like the devil. Belial drags her backward; Blaze still unable to find her voice. Her legs bump into the chair again, and suddenly she realizes Belial isn't holding her anymore. She is shoved backward and finally finds her voice when she feels the clamps lock her arms above her. She begins screaming as the stocks are closed on her ankles, leaving her completely helpless.

"Go ahead and scream all you want Blaze, no one is going to come save you," She appears on Blaze's thighs, her face inches from Blaze's. Blaze is breathing heavily, noticing right away the sent of Belial's breath…

"_Hey…that smells like oranges…wait what am I thinking? She's got me locked in this thing and completely helpless! Why am I thinking about her breath?" _Belial stares into Blaze's blue-white eyes, loving the fear she sees in them. She raises her hand and runs her finger down Blaze's cheek, grinning evilly.

"Welcome to my world, bitch," Blaze gulps and tries to pull away. She instantly tenses and begins shaking when Belial gently runs her finger down her cheek, across her neck and up her arm. Blaze's mind begins working double-time. Part of her is terrified and the other part is excited, the two clashing and fighting for control. Belial runs her finger down into Blaze's armpit and begins lightly drawing circles along the sensitive skin. This is the first time in her life Blaze has ever been tickled, so she cracks right away and begins giggling. Belial grins at her reaction; Blaze is one of Leviathan's Darkpuffs, she was going to enjoy making her suffer. Belial adds her other hand and the rest of her fingers, and speeds up her tickling attack. Blaze begins bucking and laughing; it's exactly like she thought it would be, the feel of Belial's fingers tickling her mercilessly. Belial moves down and slips her hands up Blaze's shirt. She tickles her ribs, her stomach, her sides, then repeats the process, never slowing down. Blaze screams as her face turns red and tears begin streaming down her face. Belial stretches her legs out and lies down on Blaze. She then begins tickling Blaze's belly with her tongue. Blaze laughs harder and begins bucking much harder, but she can't make Belial stop. Belial continues this for several more minutes, the last two or three spent entirely on Blaze's belly button. She sits up and begins tickling Blaze's thighs and knees. Blaze is crying and laughing, but quickly losing the strength to keep fighting against Belial. Belial stops and leans in close to Blaze's face, grinning as always.

"You know what my favorite power is? I can see every sensitive nerve on your body. I know exactly where to tickle you to get the best result, and guess what? I'm going to make you wish you were dead by the time I'm through with you," Belial spins around and settles herself so her legs are dangling off the sides of the chair and Blaze's feet are right in front of her. She slowly removes Blaze's flip-flops, making Blaze shiver and giggle in anticipation. Belial scratches the air an inch away from Blaze's sole, making Blaze begin shrieking and laughing. "What's the matter? I'm not even tickling you yet." Blaze squeals and giggles, trying to pull her feet free. Belial grins and begins slowly stroking up and down Blaze's foot with one fingernail. Blaze screams and laughs, pulling harder but still having no luck at all. Belial begins tickling Blaze's other foot the same way, slowly dragging her nails up and down, making sure to keep them off rhythm to make it harder for Blaze to get used to. But Blaze doesn't have any experience at resisting tickling, so the odds are heavily against her "getting used to it". Belial then decides to go all-out, and begins tickling all over Blaze's feet with all ten fingers. Blaze screams, bucks, and squeals; experiencing a helplessness and thrill better than anything before. She gives in and just goes limp while laughing and crying. Belial pulls back her toes with one hand and begins tickling them and the extremely sensitive spaces between them. Blaze's eyes widen and she screams so loud she loses her voice. She bucks hard enough to pull herself up, before falling back into the chair and giving in to the maddening tickling.

"Kitchy, Kitchy, Koo Babe, that's it cry for me." Belial grabs Blaze's feet and begins tickling her soles with her fingers. While she holds them completely still, she lowers her mouth down and slips it around one of Blaze's big toes. Blaze's eyes pop open again and she begins laughing harder, her silent laughs hurting her chest. Belial's tongue and teeth making her laugh harder with each passing moment. Belial goes through the same process with each of Blaze's toes, each one more ticklish than the last. Finally she reaches the baby toe on Blaze's left foot. She slips it in her mouth and begins licking and nibbling on it. Blaze's entire body shakes and she laughs harder than she has before in her entire life. Belial then repeats the long torturous process with Blaze's other foot, spending even more time on each individual toe. Blaze cries harder and tries to suck just a little air into her oxygen-starved lungs. Her forceful laughs; however, just shoot it back out every time she succeeds.

Finally Belial stops, letting Blaze catch her breath. Belial slides off her legs and walks up to her face. She grabs Blaze's chin and forces her to look at her. Blaze stares into Belial's cold pale blue eyes, and for some reason her young mind can't comprehend, feels herself wanting to lean forward. She doesn't get the chance to though. The chair suddenly disappears, and Blaze notices that she's sitting on a crate. Belial licks Blaze's cheeks, then kisses her on the nose. She grins evilly and shoves Blaze aside to the ground.

"Well bitch, it was fun, but I gotta go. I promise next time I'll bring some toys and we'll just have a marathon," Belial laughs and teleports away. When she's gone the entire warehouse fades away. Blaze weakly looks around and sees that she's lying in a pile of rubble. She tries to get up, but can't find the strength. Her eyes water, and she begins crying again as she weakly rolls over on her side.

"_Please come back…don't go yet. Don't let it be over, come back Belial…" _While she's crying Blood appears beside her. She kneels down, and swiftly socks Blaze across the face knocking her out. She grabs Blaze's shoes and tosses Blaze over her shoulder.

"Pathetic you little freak, letting her beat you like that. When I get a chance to fight Belial, I'll show her that her pathetic little tricks won't work on me," Blood teleports back to Hell with Blaze


	8. Deja Vu

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

Blossom flies through the city looking for any sign of trouble. As she's flying through the destroyed downtown area she notices a girl around her age with blonde, orange, and red hair. The sight makes her raise an eyebrow, but she doesn't see anything overall suspicious about the girl, so she flies off elsewhere. She lands in the park, for some reason _feeling_ some strange energy within it. She walks around, keeping her eyes open for anything. She hears a strange melody being played on a flute, or something close to one, coming from nearby. Wandering for a few more minutes she comes across a boy, who looks to be in his early to mid teens, sitting on a swing playing an ocarina. For a moment, Blossom completely zones out listening to his song. She notices squirrels, a rabbits, and birds sitting around the boy listening to him. A gentle wind swirls around the boy while he plays, the clouds open above him letting the sun shine down on him. The song picks up speed and becomes more forceful, making the wind swirling around him become more powerful. Strangely, Blossom can hear far more instruments than just the ocarina being played. She hears violins, drums, and trumpets. But even above all of these the ocarina is easily heard. The wind picks up more speed, causing the boy's neat red hair to rise into the air. The animals are still entranced, unable to turn their attention away. Blossom too is still under the spell of the boy's song, being able to do nothing but stand there feeling a strange sense of déjà vu while she listens to him. She snaps back to reality when the boy stops playing. The animals; however, remain near him. He looks up at Blossom and smiles, his blue-green eyes shimmering.

"You've finally arrived, I knew you would," Blossom raises an eyebrow and walks up to the boy. The animals don't scatter when she approaches, in fact they move out of her way. She looks at them momentarily then back at the boy.

"What do you mean you knew I was coming?" His eyes never leave Blossom's, as he slowly stands up, his black poncho blowing gentle at his ankles.

"You've had your potential released, and now you've come to me as the prophecies have stated." Blossom only becomes more confused.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"My name is Glyja, and it is my job to test your abilities. You came here, when I began playing. You've already proved to me who you are by coming here, but now the time has come to see if you have realized your true potential,"

"According to my dad, I've had my full potential unlocked." She replies, finding herself not intimidated or nervous around Glyja.

"Then let's begin…"

"Blossom, Blossom Utonium,"

"Blossom, let's see what you're capable of," He reaches in his poncho and pulls out two stone swords. Both are long and narrow, but look very heavy. Glyja holds them at his sides, their tips brushing the ground. Blossom shifts into a defensive stance. The animals suddenly scatter, leaving only Blossom and Glyja in the park. Again, Blossom has a strange feeling of déjà vu looking at Glyja. She can distantly hear another song, played on the same ocarina Glyja had pocketed. This one is peaceful, and makes her begin to feel tired. The song fades away, as does the feeling. Glyja shifts into his own defensive position, easily holding up both of the heavy looking swords.

In an instant Blossom vanishes. Glyja changes stances, keeping his eyes open for the smallest bit of movement. He raises his right sword and blocks a powerful kick thrown by Blossom, who is amazed that he was able to find her and react so fast. She vanishes into thin air again. Glyja swings his left sword, slamming Blossom in the stomach with the dull blade. Blossom's eyes widen; she stumbles backward holding her stomach and trying to catch her breath. Glyja swings at her again. This time Blossom catches his sword. He swings the other one at her with just as much speed and force. Blossom jumps and kicks Glyja across the face, sending him spiraling through the air. He rights himself and lands, immediately charging at Blossom with inhuman speed. Blossom finds herself on the defensive, dodging all of Glyja's quick and powerful swings and thrusts. She backflips and kicks him in the jaw, knocking him a few inches off the ground. Glyja swings both swords down, smashing them on Blossom's back and driving her to the ground. Blossom rolls away from him and comes up firing her eyebeams at him. Glyja slices through them with one sword. He charges at her and swings the other one at her. Blossom jumps and kicks him in the head yet again, this time sending him tumbling backward. He rolls into a crouching position and stands up. Blossom lands and decides to go on the offensive. She flies at him and throws a flurry of light speed punches at him. Glyja dodges all of them, jumping backward and keeping just ahead of her. Blossom draws her arms back and slams both her fists on his neck. She then knees him in the chest with both knees, and finishes by blasting him away with her eyebeams.

Glyja stands up and cracks his neck, still going very strong. Blossom narrows her eyes, then smirks and begins gathering energy. Pink energy and lightning swirl around her. She holds out her hands, holding them together. The lightning crackles around her fists and, as she pulls them apart, leaps between her fingers. A ball of pink energy begins forming between her hands. When it becomes the size of a basketball Blossom slams her hands together and draws them back over her head, pink light shooting from the spaces between her fingers. Her energy becomes a pink fire around her, tearing the ground apart as it continues building. Glyja shifts into a defensive stance, ready for whatever Blossom throws at him.

"Shinespark!" Blossom thrusts her hands downward at Glyja sending a ball of pink energy, crackling with lightning, at him. Glyja uses both his swords to block it. The resulting explosion is colossal. When the smoke and dust fades, Glyja lowers his swords. His poncho is torn and his hair is messed up, but for the most part he's unharmed. Blossom doubles over to catch her breath. Glyja rushes at her and begins a furious assault. He smashes her in the stomach with one sword, slams her in the back with the other, then swings both of them at once and sends her flying to the side. Blossom stands up, winded and disheveled but okay. She flies at Glyja and throws multiple blasts of energy at him. While Glyja is blocking them, she appears next to him, with a Shinespark fully charged.

"Shinespark!" She thrusts her hands down at him, but doesn't fire the attack. She instead slumps forward holding her stomach. Glyja has nailed her hard with one of his swords. Blossom looks up at him, wide eyed and almost out of breath. "How did…but your hands were…you were too…" Glyja steps back and tosses off his poncho. Blossom's jaw drops, completely surprised by Glyja's little secret. He is holding two other stone swords, with two other arms. He shifts into a stance, all four of his arms moving independently from one another.

"What's the matter? Never seen a four-armed-man before?" Blossom stands up and shakes her head, again feeling the same sense of remembrance. She shakes off the feeling and gets ready. Fighting a two-armed Glyja was proving difficult enough, but a four-armed Glyja? Something tells her this is going to be a lot harder than she'd hoped. Glyja wastes no time in charging at her and beginning an assault. Blossom dodges two swords, only to be cracked in the head and stomach by the other two. She then focuses her attention on them and is nailed hard by the other two. This continues going on for some time, Blossom getting more worn down by the second. She then gets a crazy idea and grabs two of Glyja's swords. When he's about to hit her with the other two, she quickly dodges them and kicks him in the face. Glyja stumbles back, and Blossom quickly yanks the two swords out of his hands. She spins them around and grabs the hilts. Glyja stands up straight and stares at her. Blossom rushes at him and begins attacking him with both swords, learning quickly that it's much harder than it looks. Glyja counter attacks and the two begin a sword fight. Blossom blasts him with her eyebeams, knocking him off balance. She then attacks him with the swords, smashing him around like he'd been doing to her. Glyja eventually blocks her attack and grabs her arms with his two free hands. He sheathes his other two swords and crosses his top two arms. Blossom tries to break free from his grip, but Glyja's strength is incredible.

"You took my swords…" He says in an annoyed voice. Blossom gulps and smiles nervously. Unfortunately for her, it's at that time she decides to pull a Buttercup and speak before thinking.

"Yeah, what're you going to do about it?" She mentally kicks herself upon remembering that he's holding her arms, she can't break free, and he's still got two arms to spare. Glyja scratches the back of his head, honestly confused.

"Uh…well I dunno…I was hoping you'd just give them back…uhh…" He thinks for a few minutes, Blossom struggling to get away the whole time. Glyja then gets an awkward look in his eyes and sweatdrops as he blushes slightly. "So uh…can I just have them back?" Blossom stops struggling long enough to give him a look.

"No way! I'm not about to just give you something to beat on me with!" Glyja's blush darkens slightly, making him sigh and sweatdrop again.

"Um…okay…then I guess I'll just have to take them back," Blossom tightens her grip on the swords, expecting him to just try to yank them away from her. What she wasn't expecting was for him to start tickling her sides with his free hands. "Um…Coochi coo?" Blossom clamps her mouth shut and begins singing a song in her head to keep her mind off the tickling. Luckily for her, Glyja is nowhere near as good as Belial when it comes to tickling. Unluckily for her, she's still extremely ticklish. Glyja is still uncomfortable with the situation, but continues tickling her while switching spots constantly.

"_Still the window burns," _she shudders, but holds in her giggles, "_time so slowly turns. Someone there is hehehehe sighing. Keepers of the flahahahahmes can't you feheheheheel your naahahahmes c-can't you hear your babies cryinghehehehe,"_ Glyja blushes a little more and starts tickling her ribs. Blossom has to clench her eyes shut and focus harder to keep from breaking. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, her face starting to turn pink. "_But nowhahahaha the drehehehehams and wahahahahking screheheheheams that ever lahahahast the night. So build a wahahahahall behehehehehind it crahahahahawl and hide until it's li!" _Glyja hits a sensitive spot, making Blossom break and begin giggling and squealing. She drops his swords, making him stop instantly. He snatches them up and jumps back, still blushing a dark shade of red. Blossom gets control of her giggles and looks up at him. "_Crap, he's got his swords back! Darnit, I can't beat him on my own, he's too good!_" Glyja shakes his head and stops blushing.

"Okay…uh…oh yeah! Testing you got it!" He rushes at her again and begins his assault. Blossom goes on the defensive and begins dodging. She attacks him every now and then when she finds an opening, but he just stands back up and comes back for more. Suddenly, Glyja is blasted in the back. Blossom looks up and sees Buttercup and Bubbles land nearby. She nearly dies with relief.

"Hey Bloss! Who's your new friend? He's not with the Darkpuffs is he?" asks Buttercup. Blossom joins her sisters, while Glyja climbs to his feet and rubs his head.

"No he's not…I don't think so anyway. His name's Glyja and he said he's hear to test me or something," says Blossom.

"Actually, uh, I'm here to test all of you…lucky me…" Buttercup grins and shifts into a fighting stance. Bubbles and Blossom do the same.

"How strong is he Blossom?" asks Bubbles.

"He's owning me with my full potential unleashed…you tell me," replies Blossom. Bubbles gulps and together the three fly at Glyja. He attacks Blossom, knocking her into the ground with two of his swords. He kicks Buttercup in the side, and hits Bubbles with one of his swords. He then jumps high into the air and comes down at Blossom. She jumps out of the way. Glyja swings his swords, and the ground literally splits wide open. He turns around and cracks his neck again. Blossom stares at the hole in the ground. "You were holding back against me weren't you?" Glyja grins sheepishly and blushes.

"Well…yeah I was," Buttercup snorts and charges at him. Glyja dodges her, knees her in the stomach, then is blasted away by Blossom before he can drill her with all four swords. The girls fly at him and begin attacking him with everything they've got. Glyja finds himself hurting to keep up with all three of them. He pretty easily blocks two of them, but the third always hits him hard. Finally after about a half hour, he jumps into the air and lands by his poncho. He sheathes his swords and falls back on the ground panting. "Wow, what a work out. You three are really tough," the girls all take this as a sign that the fight is over and collapse on a piece of park equipment. Bubbles wearily swings softly on the swing, Buttercup leans on the jungle gym, and Blossom sits on the edge of the slide. Glyja stands up and stretches. He then puts his poncho back on and yawns mightily. "Well I'd better go, I promise next time I'll put up a much better fight," He walks off, whistling a strangely familiar tune. The girls all look at each other and groan. Slowly they walk back home together, ready to just rest for a while.

_Hell_

Blood sits in her room, which is drowning in total darkness. She stares into the darkness and narrows her eyes.

"I swear I'll show you that you aren't so great. I'm a million times better than you'll ever be, and I'm going to tear you apart Belial. Your cheap little games aren't going to beat me,"

_Belial's Room_

Belial lies on the edge of her bed with her legs hanging off the end. She holds up a picture of Bubbles and grins. She lightly traces around Bubbles' face with her finger.

"You're the only one I haven't gotten to play with yet. We're going to have one _hell_ of a time Bubbles,"


	9. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

Blood's door opens and Blitz walks in. She flips on the lights, and lies down on Blood's bed beside her. Blood's room is done in shades of black and blue, which isn't very surprising given her personality. There are various posters for heavy metal bands on her walls, a skull on her nightstand, a TV embedded in the wall across from the bed, and a huge stereo in one corner. Blood continues to stare off into space, even when Blitz lightly punches her in the shoulder.

"Hey Blood, you okay? You've been way too quiet lately. And you only socked the freak once, that's not normal for you," Blood continues just staring, not even blinking. Blitz begins to get worried and sits up beside her, hitting her in the shoulder much harder. "Hey! What's up?" Blood blinks and lays back, glaring at the ceiling

"I can't believe the freak let Belial beat her so easily. I just want to fight that bitch and show her she's not as great as she thinks she is. I know I can tear her apart, her cheap tricks won't work on me," Blitz lies back down and stares at the ceiling as well.

"Then go to Townsville and try to find her. I'm not going to stop you," says Blitz. Blood snorts.

"Like Father will let me just leave, you know we're in a war right now," Blitz shrugs.

"You can ask him, who knows? Hell, just leave and if he asks about you I'll cover for you." Blood blinks and sits up looking at Blitz.

"Really? You know how much trouble you'll be in if he finds out, right?" Blitz yawns and shrugs again.

"I guess so, but still if you beat Belial then Battle and Bomb won't be any threat at all. Those two can't do anything on their own." Blood sits up and goes over what Blitz just said. She grins and backhands Blitz in the stomach, making her sit up and try to catch her breath. Blitz grins at Blood and socks her in the shoulder. "Have fun with the bitch, try to save me some," Blood stands up and grins at her.

"You'll just have to hope I don't get carried away," Blood teleports to Earth, leaving behind Blitz. Blitz stands up and shuts the light off on her way out of Blood's room. She stands outside Blood's room; suddenly getting the cold feeling that something was going to happen. She shakes it off and walks off, heading toward her own room.

_Belial's Room_

Belial sits up and stretches. She stares at her TV and grins evilly when she notices Blood appear in Townsville.

"You know…Bubbles can wait, I've got something more interesting in mind," with that she teleports to earth.

_Townsville_

Blood walks by the park, noting the obvious destruction. She shrugs and continues on her way. Maybe a half hour passes and she finds herself in the Townsville Dump. She walks by the Gang Greene Gang's shack, blasting it as she walks by. Finally she hits a dead end in the maze of garbage and growls.

"Damnit where is she? I can't kick her ass if I can't find her," She hears someone chuckle behind her and whips around, firing her eyebeams. She vaporizes a washing machine, but she is completely alone. She growls and begins walking back. She hears another laugh, this one closer and louder. She whips in the direction, throwing a powerful punch. Her fist slams into a pile of garbage, making her groan. She pulls it free and shakes it off as best she can. Again the same laugh resonates around her. She spins around trying to find the source. When she stops, Belial is standing behind her grinning evilly. She leans forward and whispers in Blood's ear.

"So you're here to kick my ass, huh?" Blood whips around and is again greeted by empty air. She growls and whips around looking for Belial. She hears another laugh and looks in its direction. Belial is sitting on a broken down stove, grinning at her. Blood gives lunges at Belial and throws a punch at her. Her fist smashes through the stove. She looks around confused; she had seen Belial sitting her, there's no way she was dreaming. She yanks her fist free and spins around snarling.

"Come out and fight me you coward!" Belial laughs and Blood quickly turns to face her. This time Belial is standing near the dead end Blood had seen earlier. Blood roars and flies at her. She throws a punch at Belial's head, but misses at the last second. She throws a kick at Belial, who is leaning back and already prepared to dodge it. Blood throws a flurry of punches at her, but the entire time Belial has dodged them before Blood even throws them. Blood brings both her fists down on Belial. Her fists smash into the ground; again Belial has vanished. She taps Blood on the shoulder and smirks.

"Where're you aiming? I'm over here," Blood spins around and punches empty air. She hears Belial clear her throat behind her. Blood whirls around again, her hair coming out of its pigtails. She tries to hit Belial again, but before she can Belial is right next to her and holding her wrist. "What's wrong? Feeling scared yet?" Blood blushes and uppercuts Belial…at least she tries to but all she hits is empty air.

"WHY CAN'T I HIT YOU!" she screams. Her hair is completely messed up, she's sweating, and it feels like her left arm is going numb. She shakes it to get the blood flowing again, but the feeling just becomes stronger. "Damnit, what's wrong with my arm?" Belial whistles at her from behind. Blood turns around growling, also feeling her right arm falling asleep. "What are you doing to me?" Belial grins again, this time darker and more evilly. All around them everything begins changing. The piles of garbage turn into black stones and the skies turn red. Blood feels it, the horrible pain of fear shooting through her.

"You can't touch me because you're in my world." Belial then just pops out of sight. Blood's arms are dangling uselessly at her sides as she looks around, trying her hardest to stay brave. Her left leg suddenly goes numb and she stumbles sideways. In an instant two skeleton hands shoot from the garbage and grab her arms. They pull her back against the stone. Two more hands shoot out and grab her ankles, completely immobilizing her. Belial appears in front of Blood, smirking cockily. Blood spits at her, but the spit completely passes through Belial. She then notices Belial standing to her right, slowly drawing circles on her stomach with one fingernail. Blood clenches her eyes shut and growls at Belial.

"You cheater, you can't beat me this way! I'm a hundred times stronger than that freak Blaze, I'm not going to lose that easy!" Belial grins and tears Blood's shirt, revealing her flat tummy. She then appears directly in front of Blood and begins scratching lightly over Blood's tummy. Blood growls at Belial, keeping her eyes shut tightly. This was the first time she'd ever been seriously tickled. The little tickle Blaze had mistakenly sneaked on her had lasted less than a second. This time she was completely helpless and at Belial's total mercy. Belial slowly rakes her nails up and down Blood's tummy, dipping her fingers in her belly button and spending plenty of time there. Blood trembles, but she continues to stand strong against the tickling. Belial begins kneading her sides, still slowly and methodically. Blood grinds her teeth together; the tickling is slowly eating away at her willpower. Belial slowly works her way up to Blood's ribs, tickling faster ever so slightly. Blood jerks a few times, then goes back to silently fighting off Belial's attack. One of Belial's fingers scratches a little too close to her armpits for her liking, making Blood shudder and struggle harder to keep in her laughs. Belial then grabs her sides and begins tickling her hard and fast. Blood's eyes pop open and she begins jerking around more. Her face turns pink and her eyes water.

"This is so much fun, you're just like Buttercup was. But I broke her, and I'm going to break you Blood. Oh I'm going to break you," Belial tickles her tummy fast with one hand and scratches up and down her sides and ribs. Blood clenches her eyes shut as tight as she can and grins her teeth together so hard it begins to hurt. Belial's fingers continue their merciless assault, not giving Blood any time to catch her breath. Belial leans forward and whispers softly in Blood's ear.

"If you think this is bad, I've got news for you. It's going to get worse," She leans down and flicks her tongue around in Blood's armpit just momentarily. Instantly Blood's gates shatter and she begins screaming and laughing. Belial then shifts her full attack on Blood's armpits. Blood screams and thrashes, laughing like a lunatic. Belial lightly draws little circles along the soft skin, making Blood's knees buckle and her whole body shake. She goes all-out and tickles her hard, making her scream and go into silent laughter. She slows down again, this time using two fingers on each hand to lightly tickle Blood. Blood tries desperately to get away, but whatever is holding her is much stronger than she is. Belial speeds up again. Blood bounces as well as she can and screams silently. For what seems like days to Blood, Belial just keeps repeating this pattern. Speeding up and tickling her hard and fast, then slowing down and tickling her with maddening softness.

_Meanwhile_

The Gang Greene Gang returns to their shack and sees it completely destroyed. They gape at it, then look off in the distance after hearing a scream. They peak around the corner and see a young girl with pink hair tickling a young girl with white hair. The white-haired girl doesn't look like she's enjoying it in the least, but is holding her arms up, laying against a pile of garbage, and standing there; doing nothing to fight back. They slowly walk away, weirded out and confused by the scene.

_Belial Vs Blood_

Belial grins, watching the tears pour down Blood's bright red face.

"That's it Babe, cry for me." Blood cries harder, now not just from the tickling but also from the embarrassment. Just an hour or two ago she'd been talking about how much of a freak and a baby Blaze was for letting Belial beat her this way. Now here she is being tickled to the point of crying, after not being able to land a single hit on Belial. She cries harder and blushes darker, still laughing painfully due to the tickling. Belial stops and the skeleton hands retreat Blood slumps to the ground and continues crying. Belial kicks her in the side, making her whimper and curl into a ball. The ground suddenly bursts into flames, making Blood scream and try to fly off the ground. She can't get herself off the ground though. When she stops trying to fly she falls to the ground painfully, and begins screaming as the flames burn her. Blood weakly lies on the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. The flames die down, leaving the ground charred black. Blood's clothes aren't burnt in the least and she doesn't have burn marks on her mysteriously. Belial grins and grabs Blood's messy white hair, lifting her head up to look in her eyes.

"Still think you're better than me? I'm the best in the world bitch, and I'm going to have a barrel of fun with your sister," Blood stares into Belial's cold eyes, still crying and trembling with fear and embarrassment. Belial slams her head into the ground, knocking her out instantly. She then whistles as she walks off, leaving behind a beaten puff, with an even more battered ego. Belial grins and looks up at the night sky. "Guess what little Bubbles? I'm not done for the night yet, I've got one more toy to play with,"


	10. A Nightmare With No Escape

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

The pale moonlight pours in the window to the girls' room. Bubbles is clutching her favorite toy, Octi, Buttercup has the blanket pulled over her head and is mumbling in her sleep, and Blossom has her pillow over her head and is facing Buttercup. The wind blows into the room, and gently caresses Bubbles' cheek. She stirs and wakes up, feeling oddly cold. She looks at the open window and yawns. She crawls out of bed, wearing blue pajama pants and a white tank top, and walks over to the window. Before she reaches it, she rubs her eyes again and looks up. There, sitting on the windowsill, is Boomer of the Rowdyruff Boys. Her eyes snap open, gasping silently and gaping at him. Boomer smirks and falls backward out the window. Bubbles runs to the window and looks out. Boomer has completely vanished, nothing outside at all. She rubs her eyes again and yawns, then quickly clamps her mouth shut and stares out the window.

Walking down the street is a little girl, somewhere between 7 and 10 years old, wearing only a white nightgown. Bubbles leans out the window staring at her, what was a little girl doing out this late? Bubbles flies out the window and down to the sidewalk. The little girl disappears out of view just as she lands. Bubbles floats down the sidewalk after the little girl. The little girl always seems to stay the same distance ahead of Bubbles, never slowing down. She floats faster, but the girl remains ahead of her. She then turns a corner, and finds herself in an alley. Bubbles looks around, but can't find the little girl anywhere.

"Where'd she go?" she whispers to herself. She hears a creaking noise and looks to her left to see a door that is cracked open. Looking around, Bubbles gathers her courage, opens the door, and floats into the building. When she is inside, the door closes and disappears.

_Inside the Building_

Bubbles floats through the building, becoming increasingly creeped out by the perpetual darkness that her super vision just barely penetrates. She floats through another doorway, and notices a dim light up ahead. She floats to the light and can finally see the inside of the building. It is an old warehouse that much is obvious. There are crates everywhere and the entire place has something ominous and evil about it. Bubbles trembles, her mouth going dry. She turns around and sees the little girl standing behind her.

"Oh there you are! What are you doing in this place all by yourself? It's really scary…"asks Bubbles in the bravest tone she can muster. The little girl giggles at her. Bubbles gulps and floats back a little. The girl's giggle has something sinister and evil about it. "Wh-what's so funny?"

"You are silly. You came here to play with her didn't you?" Bubbles gulps and shakes her head. "If you didn't come here to play, why are you here? She wanted you to come here and play and you came." Bubbles feels the fear rising, it's beginning to suffocate her. The little girl walks towards her, and giggles more. "We've been waiting a long time for you, please play with us," she giggles again and fades away. Bubbles is now breathing heavily and sweating. She flies toward the exit of the room, only to find there is no exit. She looks around and notices no windows or anything. She spins around and sees the little girl again, as well as three others. The one she followed has black hair, one has red hair, one has blonde hair, and the fourth one has brown hair. They are all giggling and watching Bubbles carefully. Bubbles screams and tries to fly away but doesn't rise into the air anymore. When she stops trying she falls to the ground.

"Play with us Bubbles! It'll be lots of fun!" They giggle again, making Bubbles become more frightened. She looks around and her eyes stop on a figure she can barely see hidden in the shadows. Time almost seems to slow down as the figure begins laughing and fades out of the shadows. Bubbles can hear her own heart slowly beating. She looks behind her and shrieks. Standing behind her is Belial, whom Bubbles only knows at first glance thanks to Blossom's description. Bubbles backs up and notices the four girls walk up to her. The black haired one is taller than Bubbles, the red head is her height, the blonde is shorter than she is, and the brown haired one is the smallest. Bubbles pulls away, but can't run or fly away. Belial grins and walks up to her, cupping her chin with her hand.

"Hey there Bubbles, I've been waiting for you," Bubbles trembles, unable to find her voice. "I had lots of fun with Blossom, and I would've had a ton more fun with Buttercup if the nerd hadn't let her get away. But I promise you and I are going to have a screaming good time. I even brought along some friends to play with us." Bubbles is pushed back by Belial, and partially dragged back by the four girls. She falls to the ground suddenly, her legs going completely numb. The ground reaches up and locks around her wrists and ankles. Bubbles finally finds her voice and begins screaming. "Go ahead, no one can hear you. You're in my world now," The blonde girl drops to her knees, her legs on either side of Bubbles head, and begins tickling her armpits. Bubbles squeals and giggles, trying to roll or buck away. The blonde girl giggles happily and tickles away at Bubbles' armpits. The brown-haired girl giggles and sits down beside Bubbles. She then proceeds to tickle her ribs through her tank top. Bubbles bucks and screams, laughing hard. Her face begins turning red as the two giggling girls continue their tickling assault. The red-haired girl sits down on Bubbles hips, giggling as well, and slips her hands up Bubbles' shirt. She then begins tickling her tummy, belly button, and her sides. Bubbles laughs harder, now crying and already unable to continue struggling. The black-haired girl sits on her calves and begins tickling her knees, adding even more to Bubbles' torment. Belial herself sits down in front of Bubbles' defenseless, wiggling bare feet and watches Bubbles scream and laugh with an evil grin on her face. The red-haired girl bends down and tickles Bubbles' sides with her hands while she torments her tummy and belly button with her tongue, making Bubbles buck and scream louder.

"Well this is becoming quite the party little Bubbles, but why don't we make it even more fun," She then begins scribbling her fingers over Bubbles' feet. Bubbles shrieks loud and shrilly, then goes immediately into painful silent laughter while the five tickle her mercilessly. Flames rise from the ground and burn away part of Bubbles' pajama pants, allowing the black-haired girl to tickle her directly. Bubbles lies on the ground helplessly, shrieking with silent laughter. The blonde-haired girl has moved so that she is now also tickling Bubbles' neck with her tongue. The brown-haired girl tickles all over Bubbles' ribs, going hard and fast on one side, and slow and soft on the other. The black-haired girl tickles the backs of Bubbles' knees, making her laugh harder. Belial just continues lightly scribbling her fingers over Bubbles' poor wiggling soles. Belial pulls back the toes on Bubbles' right foot and tickles it hard and fast with her free hand. Bubbles nearly jumps out of her skin, crying hysterically now. Belial tickles the base of her toes and between them. She then switches to Bubbles' other foot, this time tickling her slowly and lightly. Bubbles screams; Belial was every bit as horrible as Blossom had described, maybe even worse! After what feels like days to Bubbles all the tickling stops. She weakly opens her eyes and sees the four other girls now gathered at her feet. She screams silently, before falling back into horrible, tortured laughter. All five of them are now tickling her feet. Two of them holding back her toes and tickling them, and two of them plus Belial tickling her soles. Bubbles barely has any time at all to catch her breath through her gales of laughter. Belial grins evilly at her and licks her lips.

"We've just begun Babe, and that's it cry for me, let me see more tears," All Bubbles can do is cry and laugh while the horrible tickling continues.

_At the Pokey Oaks Elementary School Playground_

Three ten-year-old boys sit on the various playing equipment. The blonde one sits on a swing and looks at the redhead. The black-haired boy lies back on a slide, also staring at the redhead. The redhead is hanging upside down on the monkey bars, his hat lying on the ground below him.

"So Brick, what's goin on around here? I mean we saw all of those sissy puffs start showing up and completely dominating the puffs we've been fighting," Says Butch. Boomer looks at the ground and swings lightly.

"Yeah man, there's no way we can beat those new puffs. They're like Super Puffs or something." Says Boomer. Brick shrugs and swings up on top of the monkey bars.

"Who knows? All I know is that we've gotta get hella stronger hella fast…what the hell?" He looks up and stares at the moon, which looks like it's on fire. A black smoke streams down and swirls around in front of them. It forms into a tall figure that looks a lot like Him. He has black skin, pointed ears, dark black and very neat hair. His eyes are burning red, like the very flames of hell itself. He wears a red and black skintight suit. He wears a chain around his waist with a skull for a belt buckle. His boots are platform-like, and he wears a long flowing black and red cape. His muscular, yet lithe, arms hang at his sides, his silver lobster claws snapping now and then. He grins at them, walking towards Brick with the most evil and condescending glare imaginable. Brick jumps off the monkey bars, and unconsciously takes a step away from this demon. Butch and Boomer fly over to Brick's side, but are both also filled with fear looking into those red eyes. He speaks to them, in a voice that sounds exactly like Him's deep demonic voice.

"Yes…you three will serve me perfectly." He says to himself. The boys get into defensive stances.

"Hey! Who are you?" asks Brick

"Yeah! We don't serve nobody you loser!" says Butch. Boomer just remains paralyzed by fear. The demon grins, the grin of a devil a thousand…no infinitely more evil than Him or Belial. He strokes his black goatee with his claw.

"It doesn't matter to you who I ambecause soon you will know everything, and will become my perfect soldier," The demon raises his claw and opens it wide. Red energy begins gathering in it, the skies turn darker, the air grows colder, and hellish screams fill the air. The boys step back in fear, before screaming along with the choir of the damned. The demon fires a tennis ball sized blast at the boys. It splits into three marble sized balls and hits each boy in the chest. They then begin dissolving from that point, soon becoming nothing but particles floating in the air. The demon flexes his arm and clenches his claw shut. The particles swirl around and begin glowing. Black energy pours from the demon's eyes and a silent explosion fills the area. When it fades only a single ruff remains in the boys' place. He wears dark red body armor. His pants are black; his hair is neat and black that is red at the roots. A mask, a jester mask, covers his face. The mask is grinning evilly, and in the two eyeholes are burning with blue light. The light in the eyeholes fade away and the ruff looks up at the demon.

"Master Leviathan, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first," he says in a wonderfully smooth and handsome voice. The demon, who is none other than the mighty Leviathan, grins evilly. The ruff kneels and turns his face up to Leviathan.

"That's quite alright my perfect soldier. Perhaps a Darkruff can succeed where my "daughters" have been failing?" He isn't asking a question though, and this ruff knows it. He stands up and the two eyeholes burn and glow blue once more.

"Of course Master, I'll destroy the Powerpuff Girls, Malebolgia's daughters, and lead your army against the kingdom of Heaven," Leviathan nods, still grinning. The eyeholes of the Darkruff's mask continue burning. "I won't fail you," he laughs evilly; evilly and yet beautifully, "Soon all of your enemies will be in my power. The power of Beelzebub," Leviathan turns into a black mist, his red eyes appearing in the mist.

"Don't fail me Beelzebub, I want you to teach Malebolgia's little general the true meaning of power," His voice does the opposite of Him's and becomes high and snake-like, "**Show her the true meaning of fear! The true meaning of torture!"** Beelzebub nods, and the eyeholes of his mask stop burning. He walks off, fading away into the night. The black mist swirls back into the moon and vanishes, the moon returning to normal.

_The Mysterious Warehouse_

Bubbles is now dancing along the edge of insanity. The five evil girls are showing her poor sensitive feet absolutely no mercy. Belial somehow found feathers, and now Bubbles has ten feathers torturing her feet. The two girls attacking her toes are making it their job to constantly saw the feathers in between them and along the base. The other three are feathering her soles with much enthusiasm. One of the girls has turned her feathers over and is using the pointed ends to tickle Bubbles' feet. Belial is tickling one of her feet with the fluffy end and the other foot with the pointed end. The last girl is just using the fluffy ends on Bubbles' poor feet.

Time seems to have no meaning to Bubbles. She'd lost track of how long she'd been at the sadistic mercy of these monsters ages ago. Belial suddenly stops, the other four girls following suit. The restrains holding Bubbles down vanish and so do the four girls. Belial crawls up to her face and kisses her on the cheek.

"Sorry Babe, it was fun but I've gotta get out of here. Be sure to tell your sisters we'll have a big party some time." Belial vanishes and when she does the warehouse does as well. Bubbles is lying in a construction site. She is too tired to move and slowly passes out. A shadowed figure lands beside her a few minutes later and lifts her up. They then carry her back to her house…their two extra arms smoothing out Bubbles' hair and wiping her face off.

"It's time they learn the truth…it's the only way they can win," he says to himself, as the sun rises on the horizon.


	11. Melody in the Night

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs. I also don't own the songs in this chapter. If any of the lyrics are wrong, it's because I'm just going by what I can pick out, so it may be wrong. Song lyrics are in "_blah"_**

Belial lies in her bed, sleeping soundly. A soft melody drifts into her room, and makes her stir in her sleep. She sits up and growls sleepily. She yawns, throws off her blankets and swings her legs over the side of her bed. Her nightclothes consist of a navy tank top and gray sweatpants. Her fairly large feet are far from bare. They are covered by about three pairs of socks and are quickly stuffed into a pair of slippers as she climbs out of bed. She wakes up completely hearing the melody, becoming entranced by it. She walks to the edge of her room, following the song. It sounds like a violin being played, and played expertly. She walks off the edge of her room, now completely entranced. She appears in a dark cathedral, the violin music coming from the tallest tower. She begins ascending the stairs, taking each one slowly and steadily. The music grows louder, and becomes more beautiful as she continues toward it. Her eyes are glazed over and there is a small smile of wondering on her face. Each step feels a millions years apart, but she soon finds that she's already have way up. She walks into the tower and looks in the direction. There she sees a boy, wearing red chest armor, black pants, and with neat black hair that is red at the roots. He is gently and expertly playing a violin, although he looks no older than she is. Belial stares at him with wonder, her full attention focused on his music. He finishes his song and the violin vanishes into thin air.

He turns around and looks at her, his jester mask grinning at her and the eyeholes burning blue. Belial shudders and takes a step back, now somehow terrified of that mask. He holds out his hand and takes a deep breath. He then begins singing in the most beautiful voice Belial had ever heard in her entire life.

"_Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses_," Belial trembles, and feels the entrancing feeling return. _"Helpless to resist the notes I write, for I compose the music of the night,"_ Belial then feels her vocal chords begin working on their own. Before she knows what she's doing she's singing as well

_"Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense it tremulous and tender,"_ He joins her in and together they sing, _"Hearing is believing, music is deceiving. Hard as lightning, soft as candlelight," _He then sings the next part alone.

"_Dare you trust the music of the night?" _Belial then begins singing alone once more.

"_Close your eyes, for your eyes will only tell the truth," _He joins her once more. "_And the truth, isn't what you want to see. In the dark it's easy to pretend, that the truth is what it ought to be," _They continue singing together, _"Softly, deftly Music shall caress you Fear it, feel it Secretly possess you,"_ While they are singing, the eyes in the boy's mask burn brighter and Belial's eyes begin becoming duller. _"Open up your mind, Let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight. The darkness of the music of the night," _Music is mysteriously playing along with their singing, as they continue their duet.

_"Close your eyes - Start a journey through a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before," _Belial's eyes are slowly dulling more and more, while the boy's glow more. He is now standing in front of her, holding her hands. Her eyes are locked with the eyeholes of his mask. _"Close your eyes and let music set you free only then can you belong to me," _Belial's eyes close on their own while she continues singing with this mysterious boy.

"_Floating, falling. Sweet intoxication," He leans forward, his face inches from Belial's while their duet continues_, "_Touch me, trust me_," He leans back a little, Belial sighing softly and dreamily, "_Savor each sensation_, _Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write. The power of the music of the night" _

Belial's entire body feels numb, but she continues singing with him. Her whole being is filled with a mysterious feeling, a feeling she'd never felt before. She opens her eyes and looks into the eyeholes of his mask. Her eyes are now practically solid white, while his are burning as fierce as a star in the sky. He sings the next part alone.

"_You alone, can make my song take flight. Help me make the music of the…" _Belial sings her solo.

"_Help me make…the music of the night," _The song ends, but Belial still stares into the boy's "eyes". He pulls back and lifts his hand. She stares as it, both curious and at the same time afraid. He continues holding out his hand, and suddenly the entire cathedral begins shaking. A second song suddenly begins, Belial feels her body fading, and looks down, now trembling. Her vocal chords again work on their own and she begins singing, her voice showing no signs of the fear trembling in her. "_Beneath the opera house I know he's there he's with me on the stage he's everywhere And when my songs begin I always find the Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind_," The boy's eyes burn darker and he begins singing.

_"Sing once again with me, our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet. You'll give your love to me, for love is blind. The Phantom of the Opera is now your mastermind," _Belial stares at him, her near solid white eyes filled with fear but her voice still strong.

"_Those who have seen your face, draw back in fear. I am the mask you wear," _He begins singing.

"_It's me they hear."_ They then begin singing together, "_My/Your spirit and My/Your voice, combined. The Phantom of the Opera is here/there inside your/my mind." _Belial's eyes continue to lose their life, and the boy's continue to burn brighter. "_Sing once again with me, our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet! You'll give your love to me, for love is blind. The Phantom of the Opera is now your/my mastermind," _He stops singing and begins speaking, his voice still beautiful to Belial.

"Sing my angel of music," Belial then begins doing just that against her will.

"_He's there, the Phantom of the Opera,"_ She then begins singing a several high notes as he continues to speak to her, his voice remaining handsome even as it becomes darker and more evil.

"Sing my angel of music. Sing! Sing for me! Sing my angel!" Everything begins fading, and slowly Belial's vision goes black, still able to hear the boy's evil, insane, but beautiful laughter.

_In Belial's Room_

Belial's eyes slowly open, her vision as blurry if not blurrier than Battle's without her glasses. Her vision slowly clears allowing her to see where she is. She sighs weakly and lies back. She feels almost completely drained of her power, just from that weird dream. _Was it a dream? _That had to have been one of the weirdest dreams she'd ever had. She yawns and tosses her slippers over the side of the bed before falling asleep once more. She'd just have to take the day off to recover her powers.

_Atop An Old Cathedral_

Beelzebub laughs to himself and stares out across the horizon. He can see Townsville in the distance. Belial had been far weaker than he'd been expecting, she'd given into his powers instantly. Maybe he'd find a challenge in one of the Powerpuff Girls? He lies back and falls asleep, the eyeholes on his mask stop glowing the second he closes his eyes.


	12. A Little Trip To Townsville

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan and the six dark puffs.**

Bomb is lying on the floor in her room, playing with some plushies and some action figures. Her room is like her sisters', a bed in one corner, a computer, a bookshelf, nightstand, and a TV. Bomb's room; however, reflects her tastes quite visibly. The bookshelf doesn't have any books on it at all. Instead it has tons of action figures and plushies arranged in various scenes on it. Her nightstand has a picture of Battle and herself on it. More action figures cover her dresser and more plushies cover her computer desk. Taking a closer look, one can see that the plushies and action figures all have one thing in common. They are either from Trigun – tons of Vash, Knives, Wolfwood, and Legato action figures and plushies make up a good half of her collection – or they are from Megaman; mostly Zero, Bass, and Protoman. At the moment she is playing with a Sigma action figure, a Zero action figure, and an Iris action figure.

At that moment Battle runs into her room and sits down beside her, bouncing with excitement. Bomb looks up at her and giggles at her sister's excitement. Battle giggles along with her, then immediately goes back to her excited bouncing.

"Bomby, Bomby, Bomby! The Game Go in Townsville finally got the game I've been waiting _forever_ for, you've got to come with me so I can go buy it!" Bomb continues playing, but is paying perfect attention to her sister.

"Isn't that what you said when they got in _The Legend of Delta: The Dreamcaster_?" Battle sweatdrops and nods.

"Well…yeah…but I mean it this time! It's supposed to be the best game of the year I _have_ to get it! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease go with me to Townsville," Bomb continues playing and thinks it over.

"Well what game is it?" she asks.

"It's the last game in the _Legend of Destiny _series, _Chaos Unleashed_," Bomb sits up and puts up her toys. She then sits on the edge of her bed and pretends to think about it; she intended to take Battle to get her game the second Battle had asked her.

"Hmm…well maybe…I dunno," Battle puts her head on Bomb's lap and looks up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Please Bomby? Pleeeease? I'll be your best friend!" Bomb can't help but start giggling at Battle's begging.

"You're already my best friend Battly…oh fine I'll go with you, but we have to ask Daddy first," Battle squeals with joy and hugs Bomb tightly around her waist from her current position. Bomb giggles again and hugs her back. Battle jumps up and walks to Bomb's closet, taking out a pair of her sandals. Bomb walks up behind her and tickles her, making Battle squeal and giggle. Bomb always found her giggles so cute, she loved hearing Battle giggle and loved being the one who makes her giggle even more. "What are you doing Battle? Get your own shoes!" Battle giggles, both from the tickling and Bomb's tone.

"I'm just hehehehehe borrowing thehehehese," Bomb stops tickling her and giggles, pulling a pair of her sneakers out of the closet.

"Okey dokey, why didn't you just say so?" Battle grins and swats her on the arm, making Bomb grin back at her. They put their shoes on and rush off the edge of Bomb's room to find Him.

_On Another Rock in the Void_

They appear on another rock, a little larger than their rooms are. This one is obviously a kitchen. They both sniff the air and immediately rush over to the oven and look in at the cookies baking.

"Now girls, get back away from there. They'll be done in just a few more moments," says Him from the kitchen table. The two run over to him and hug him. Him lifts them onto his lap and looks back and forth at them. "Alright, what is it you want?" They both grin at him.

"Well, there's this game that just arrived at the Game Go in Townsville and I've been waiting for it _forever_ and we were wondering if you could give us some money and let us go to Townsville so we could get it?" Bomb hugs him around the neck and looks up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, can we go to Townsville Daddy? Pleeeeease?" Battle hugs him as well and Him begins feeling his defenses crumbling. He gathers his remaining forces and prepares to launch a last ditch assault.

"Have you both cleaned your rooms?" Battle and Bomb nod and smile at him proudly. Him tries to find someway to win this little battle (no pun intended). "Did you get your baths?"

"Yeah! We took one together last night Daddy," Him sighs, realizing he can't think of anything else. He waves his claw and his wallet appears in his hand.

"How much do you need," he asks in an exasperated tone. Battle squeals and hugs him.

"Maybe um…sixty dollars?" Him's left eye twitches, but this is the first time they've asked him for something in a long time. He sighs and hands Battle his wallet, not feeling patient enough to count out the money.

"There, but only buy that one game, got it? I want you to bring back the rest," Battle takes it from him and kisses him on the cheek.

"Thank you Daddy!" Him sets them on the ground and goes over to the oven, just as the timer goes off. He turns off the timer and takes the cookies out of the oven, setting them on a sheet of wax paper on the counter. Battle and Bomb fly over to them, quickly taking one each and enjoying the chocolately chewy goodness.

"Now girls, save some for your sister…speaking of Belial she isn't up yet. I need to go check on her," Battle and Bomb look at each other confused. Sure they didn't like Belial, but she was still their sister. And no matter how late she stayed up, Belial was always up at the exact same time everyday: 9:43 in the morning. And it was now 10:02 and she still wasn't up. Something must be seriously wrong with her. Him shuts off the oven and walks off the edge of the rock to go check on Belial. Battle and Bomb each take another cookie before teleporting to Townsville.

_Belial's Room_

Belial moans, her blankets piled on top of her. Him walks into the room and sees her. He sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls the covers back off her head. Belial jumps and looks up at him, relaxing when she realizes it's just him. Him brushes her damp hair off her face and puts the back of his claw on her forehead. Belial shivers under the cool feeling of his claw. Him winces, feeling how hot Belial is.

"Why didn't you come tell me you're sick Belial?" Belial shrugs and sighs painfully, trying to keep her moans of pain to a minimum while Him is in the room. Him pulls her into his arms and hugs her tightly. Belial snuggles into his arms, loving the feeling. It's not one she experiences often. Him strokes her damp hair. "You're definitely taking the day off Belial," he kisses her on the forehead and lays her back down in bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin. "Stay in bed and let me handle taking care of you for the day," Belial considers arguing, but a sharp pain shoots through her aching body making her reconsider.

"Okay Daddy…" Him leaves to get a wet rag and a few other things. Belial moans in pain again and curls up. "I can't believe I actually got sick, I've never been sick before…this sucks,"

_Townsville_

Battle and Bomb walk hand in hand down the sidewalk towards the Townsville Game Go. Well…Battle drags Bomb down the sidewalk. They stop in front of the store and go in, Battle's eyes becoming big blue hearts behind her glasses. Bomb looks at her and giggles, tugging on her hand.

"We're just here for that one game Battly," Battle snaps out of her dreamy state.

"I know, but I love this place. There are so many cool video games here!" She wanders around in a happy daze, still holding Bomb's hand and taking her along. Bomb giggles and tugs her hand again.

"Come on, let's get that game so we can go home and play it," That snaps her out of her daze. Battle and Bomb wander around, looking for the game. Battle squeals and runs over to a display case, dragging Bomb with her. Battle stares at the game with blue hearts in her eyes, which Bomb notices are specifically focused on one of the female characters on the front of the box. She already knows that Battle is staring at Saria; she's been Battle's favorite video game character since the first _Legend of Destiny_ game. Bomb rolls her eyes. "I'll go get someone to open the case," Battle nods and continues staring at the game.

Bomb comes back a few minutes later with an employee and sweatdrops seeing Battle still in the same position she'd been in before. Bomb taps her on the shoulder, making her jump and blush. Bomb grabs her hand and pulls her back, letting the employee get the game out. They follow him to the counter, where Battle pays for the game and takes the little bag with the game in it. They leave, Bomb having to drag Battle out. They walk down the street, still hand in hand. Battle blushes a bit and grins at Bomb.

"Thanks for coming with me Bomby," Bomb smiles at her and kisses her on the cheek.

"You're welcome Battly, I know how you don't like going to earth by yourself and how you don't like talking to strangers," Battle smiles and the two continue walking, deciding somewhere along the line to take their time and walk around for a bit before going home. They walk past the bank, and suddenly a black ball of energy flies past them and blasts the bank, destroying it instantly. They look up in time to see a figure wearing a jester mask. Both of them tremble in fear, completely creeped out by the mask. The figure fires several more black energy blasts at them, destroying more of the street. The figure then laughs and vanishes. The two gape at the building, and suddenly hear a whooshing sound.

"Alright you two what do you think you're doing?" Asks someone behind them. They turn around and see Blossom and Buttercup standing behind them. Battle pushes her glasses back up, and tightens her hold on Bomb's hand.

"W-We didn't do anything, there was this guy with a clown mask! He did this!" she says to them. Bomb nods, also tightening her hold on Battle's hand. Buttercup snorts and moves into a fighting stance.

"Yeah right! You two are the only one's here who could have done this! And what's with the bag?" Battle puts the sack with her game in it behind her back, her eyes now watering from the false accusation.

"It's a game I bought," she says in a soft voice.

"Yeah we only came to earth to buy Battle her game. We didn't come here to cause any trouble!" Blossom also moves into a fighting stance. Bomb growls under her breath and Battle takes off her glasses and wipes her eyes. She sets her game down on a bench nearby and floats back to Bomb's side. Bomb looks at Battle, adjusts her glasses so they're straight, and then moves into a fighting stance. Battle follows suit, not at all liking the idea of being accused of something they didn't do. A gentle breeze blows through the area. Buttercup grows tired of waiting and charges at them, throwing a punch at Battle. Battle flips to the side and rolls over Bomb's back. She fires a beam of forest green energy at Buttercup who slams into the pile of rubble. Battle lands on Bomb's other side, and Bomb stands up straight. Buttercup stands up, not harmed but very pissed off. Bomb grins mischievously at her and glances at Battle.

"The usual plan?" Battle grins, her grin just as mischievous as Bomb's, and nods. Buttercup fires her eyebeams at them, and Blossom uses this time to launch her own attack. She flies at them, aiming for Battle. Bomb leans back and puts her hands up. Battle jumps and lands on her hands, before Bomb propels her into the air. Buttercup's eyebeams whiz over Bomb's head and hit Blossom. Battle twists around in mid air, her arms crossed over her chest, and thrusts her hands out sending a burst of wind at Blossom, driving her into the ground. Battle lands, and flies at Bomb, who is dodging a flurry of punches from Buttercup. Bomb falls back into a crab walking position, making Buttercup fly over her in time to be rammed by Battle. Buttercup tumbles sideways and stands up, regrouping with Blossom. The two Darkpuffs stand back up, still grinning at the two Powerpuffs.

"Good grief Blossom, how're they doing this? I know for a fact we couldn't do that," says Buttercup.

"They work perfectly together. They know exactly how the other is going to react and move accordingly." Blossom says, half awed and half frustrated. Buttercup growls under her breath.

"Well fine! You take the nerd with the glasses and I'll handle the other one." Normally Blossom would scold Buttercup for calling Battle a nerd, but while they're fighting against two equal, if not stronger, opponents she decides against it. Blossom and Buttercup fly at their target. Blossom punches at Battle, who jumps and catches a blast fired by Bomb and throws it back at Blossom. Blossom rolls out of the way, her eyes widened by that particular maneuver. Battle fires powerful blades of wind at Bomb, who grabs Buttercup's fist and pulls her forward, using her as a human shield. Bomb kicks Buttercup into the air and fires her eyebeams at Blossom. Buttercup stops herself in midair and is drilled by a tornado fired by Battle. Blossom jumps away from the eyebeams and collides with Buttercup. The two land in a heap on the ground. They quickly detangle themselves and stand up. Battle lands next to Bomb again, taking her hand the second she lands.

"We have to separate them, together they're way too powerful," says Blossom. Buttercup nods and waits for Blossom to finish. She realizes that Blossom IS finished and gulps. They'd fought teams before, like the Gang Green Gang, the Beat-Alls, and the Rowdyruff Boys, but they'd never fought a team like Battle and Bomb before. The two play off of each other's actions and reactions perfectly. Blossom motions at Buttercup, and together the fly at the two again, this time Blossom does have something in mind. Blossom flies at Bomb, and the second Bomb jumps to avoid her, Blossom drops to her knees and sweeps Battle's legs out from under her. Buttercup punches Battle in the gut, knees her in the back, and kicks her across the face, sending her flying away from Bomb and Blossom. Buttercup turns and fires her eyebeams at Bomb, who had been preparing to attack Blossom. Bomb is hit and flies into the rubble of the bank. Blossom flies after Battle, while Buttercup goes after Bomb.

_Blossom and Battle_

Battle sits up and looks around, the world a mess of blurs. She begins freaking out, and then realizes her glasses have just been knocked down on her face. She puts them back on, a little crooked, and sighs with relief when she realizes she can see. Blossom lands in front of her, making Battle jump to her feet and quickly look around for Bomb. She realizes she's going to have to fight Blossom on her own, which doesn't scare her.

Battle lunges at Blossom and throws fast punches at her. Blossom dodges and blocks, sweating when she realizes that while the two specialize at fighting as a team they are still Very formidable on their own. Blossom blocks Battle's attack and begins one of her own. Battle crosses her arms over her chest, making a wall of wind kick up around her, driving Blossom back. Blossom catches her balance, just in time to see Battle throwing a kick at her. She grabs Battle's ankle and holds it as tightly as she can. Battle struggles to pull her leg away, beginning to get more and more nervous the longer Blossom keeps a hold on her leg. Her foot jerks around and tosses her sandal off, which catches Blossom's attention. Battle begins struggling harder, desperately trying to pry her leg from Blossom's grip before Blossom decides to take advantage of the situation.

Blossom stares at Battle's soft, creamy white wiggling foot. Then like a light bulb turning on in Blossom's mind, she grins when she realizes why Battle is struggling to get away. Blossom raises her other hand, keeping her fingers inches away from the sole of Battle's foot. Battle instantly beings squealing and giggling. She tugs harder and bounces on her other foot trying to jerk free. Blossom smirks at her and wiggles her fingers, which are still about an inch from Battle's foot. Battle screams and begins jerking around and bouncing more. Her face turns pink and her eyes water, even though Blossom hasn't even started tickling her. Finally deciding she's been cruel enough, Blossom begins tickling Battle's foot. She scribbles swiftly and nimbly up and down Battle's sole and between her toes. Battle loses her footing and falls, laughing hysterically. Her face is now bright red, and tears are streaming down her face. Her glasses are sitting on the edge of her nose and threatening to fall off. Blossom smirks and sits down, keeping up her tickling assault on Battle's poor foot. Battle thrashes and bucks on the ground, only weakly tugging against Blossom's grip now. Blossom grins and continues tickling Battle's foot, enjoying not being on the receiving end for once.

_Buttercup Vs Bomb_

Buttercup throws a punch at Bomb, expecting her to be unable to fight as well without Battle around. Bomb slaps Buttercup's fist aside and punches her in the face, knocking her back. The two quickly rise and go into defensive stances. Bomb grins and lunges at Buttercup, throwing a furious assault at her. Buttercup dodges and blocks, fighting on basically the same level as Bomb. Buttercup grabs her arms and tosses them away. She begins her own assault, which Bomb quickly begins dodging and blocking. Buttercup nails her in the face, and quickly follows by punching her in the stomach, the chest, the face against and finishing with a roundhouse kick. Bomb flies to the side, flipping in midair and snatching a small rock off the ground before landing gracefully. She tosses the rock up and catches it, grinning despite the blood trickling down her lip.

"What are you smilin' about? I'm the one who's winning!" says Buttercup. Bomb chuckles and tosses the rock up high. She catches it again and squeezes it, navy energy lightly glowing around her hand. She then chucks the rock, which has a faint navy glow now, at Buttercup. Buttercup slaps it away and it instantly explodes. Buttercup grabs her hand and screams in pain, as blood trickles down her hand. She looks up at Bomb, who is still grinning. Buttercup rubs her hand and growls.

"Why do you think they call me Bomb? I've got an explosive personality," She holds out her hands and the air around them begins glowing navy. Two balls of navy energy appear in her hands, which she hurls at Buttercup. Buttercup doesn't make the same mistake again and dodges them. She flies at Bomb, dodging more energy bombs. She nails her in the face, knocking her backward. She begins another deadly assault, hitting Bomb harder and faster than before. She uppercuts her into the air and blasts her away with her eyebeams. Bomb lands and stands up, blood trickling down her head, one of her eyes black and swollen, and more scrapes on her cheeks. She spits out some blood and grins again. They both hear Battle scream and begin laughing. Bomb looks in the direction and sees Blossom sitting on the ground tickling Battle's foot. Bomb growls and flies at them, but Buttercup blocks her path. Bomb puts her hand near Buttercup's stomach and charges it with explosive energy. The explosion sends Buttercup flying away, leaving Bomb free to deal with Blossom. She flies at her and kicks her in the side of the head, sending her spiraling away. Battle continues giggling and crying. When she finally gets control, she pushes her glasses back up on her nose and just continues crying. Bomb hugs her and kisses her on the cheek. Battle kisses her back and hugs her. Bomb lays her down so she can catch her breath and rises. She glares at Blossom, gnashing her teeth and clenching her fists. Blossom stands up and moves into a defensive position.

Bomb flies at Blossom and begins throwing an absolutely enraged assault at her. Blossom dodges and blocks, but has a hard enough time just doing that and is unable to mount any offensive. Bomb charges the air around her hands and slams a bomb into Blossom's shoulder. Blossom screams and holds her now bleeding appendage. Bomb slams the other bomb into Blossom's side. She goes flying and lies on the ground bleeding and writhing in pain. Bomb grabs Blossom's throat and turns her to face her, her eyes now burning with anger.

"No one…makes…Battle…cry!" She begins charging Blossom with her explosive energy. Blossom can feel her entire body begin to fill with the numbing, tingling sensation. She gathers all of her remaining strength and fires a pink beam at Bomb, sending her spiraling into the air. Blossom climbs to her feet, relieved to feel the tingling sensation of Bomb's energy fading away. Bomb climbs weakly to her feet and prepares to power up another attack. Battle, holding her sack and wearing her other shoe now, grabs her shoulder making her jump. She whispers something to Bomb, who nods and calms down severely. She adjusts Battle's glasses so they're straight, and then the two teleport back home. Buttercup flies up to Blossom and looks her over.

"They were kinda tough weren't they?" Blossom nods and winces in pain.

"Yeah…but at least we know we can fight on their level…and we know that we can use their own weapon against them," she grins despite the pain. Buttercup smirks and puts her arm around Blossom.

"Come on, let's get home and see if Bubs is awake yet. That Glyja dude is waiting for us too ya know,"

"Yeah, Yeah, let's go," They fly off at a sedate pace. Despite their physical wounds they are happy with the outcome of the fight. It proved that they can fight against the Darkpuffs, and it proved that they have a way to beat them. As they fly away, Beelzebub walks from the shadows, the eyeholes of his mask burning dark blue.

"That's right girls, go learn the truth! I'll be waiting for you when you get out! You'll all succumb to my power! HAHAHAHAHA!" He fades away into the darkness, the blue glow of his eyes remaining a little longer before fading.


	13. The Truth

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs. I also don't own The Unforgiven, Metallica does.**

Blossom and Buttercup arrive home; all of their wounds from the fight with Battle and Bomb are nearly healed. Their super healing abilities were always strong, but ever since they had their full potential unlocked, it was insane. They walk by the living room, where Glyja and the Professor are discussing something. It sounds like the Professor is asking Glyja about himself, which Glyja is answering with no reluctance whatsoever. The two puffs head upstairs and enter their room. Bubbles is awake, which they gather from the empty bed. The two go to the bathroom to get cleaned up which makes Bubbles, who is at the moment taking a bath, jump. She relaxes and yawns, while her sisters look themselves over in the mirror, and decide how much damage they still need to repair.

"It's about time you guys got home, we were wondering if something serious had happened," says Bubbles.

"Nah, nothing serious. We just ran into two of those Darkpuffs," says Buttercup. Bubbles sits up quickly and stares at them.

"And…how'd it go?" she asks. Blossom wipes her face off with a wet rag, and then grins at Bubbles.

"It actually went very well. We can fight on the same level they can, and I discovered a little secret we can use against them." Bubbles drains the tub, and stands up. She begins drying off, waiting for Blossom to go on. Blossom begins brushing her hair, still grinning. "Turns out, we can fight fire with fire. Give them a taste of their own medicine." Bubbles dries her hair and thinks about what Blossom means, the answer coming to her seconds after she started thinking about it.

"You mean they're ticklish too?" Blossom nods, which brings a small smile to Bubbles' face. "Awesome, I can get Blaze back for our last fight then!"

"Still they're all as strong as we are, so we need to be careful. They can just as easily use the same thing against us," Bubbles joins her sisters in front of the mirror and begins brushing her teeth; brushing her hair when that's finished.

Later in the Living Room 

The girls race down the stairs and join Glyja and the Professor in the living room. The Professor is holding one of Glyja's swords, his face beat red, veins standing out on his neck, obviously trying his hardest to hold it up. Glyja takes it back, easily holding it with one of his four hands. The Professor falls back in his chair, breathing heavily.

"Wow…how much do those swords of yours weigh?" Glyja spins it around a couple times, then sheathes it and shrugs.

"I dunno…I never really weighed them, but I'm guessing at least two hundred…maybe four hundred pounds. The Professor gapes then shakes his head, remembering what Glyja's told him about his origins. The girls join Glyja on the couch, which is the only other seat in the room. Glyja smiles at them and picks up his poncho. "Well…since you three are finally ready, I suppose it's time I let you know what's been going on." The girls nod, not entirely sure what he means but they're almost certain it has to do with the Darkpuffs. Glyja leans back, and yawns before beginning.

"You see since the beginning of time Heaven and Hell have been at war. Heaven was ruled over by four deities: Sezu the goddess of time and space, Kisu the goddess of the sky, Delu the goddess of the earth, and finally the god of death and rebirth whose name no one remembers. Now two brothers, their powers greater than anything in the universe even the four deities that ruled Heaven, ruled Hell. Malebolgia, the lord of cruelty, was the younger of the two. He wanted to manipulate the humans and use them to win the war. Leviathan, the lord of darkness, wanted to simply destroy everything. Their different ideas and vast hatred for one another tore the Hells apart. A civil war had begun, and it has continued burning to this very day. Leviathan used his powers and banished Malebolgia to earth. Malebolgia has been here ever since…only he has stayed in his weakest form and gone by the name Him." The girls stare at Glyja. They knew Him was some kind of powerful demon; heck they always thought he was the devil. But Him had never given them too much trouble…in fact they couldn't remember a time, other than the Beat Alls, when he'd actually caused them a lot of physical harm. Now it turns out he could have easily destroyed them with little to no effort.

"Shortly after banishing Malebolgia, Leviathan attacked Heaven himself. It was unprecedented; the ruler never attacked head on. But Leviathan did, and he almost won. His attack killed countless soldiers of Heaven's army, and countless residents. Then, when all hope seemed lost, the three goddesses combined their powers and drove Leviathan back to Hell. He lost nearly eighty percent of all his power, and was trapped in his weakest embodiment. His power has never recovered, and will never recover so long as the goddesses' seal remains. But…sealing Leviathan's power was too much for the goddesses. As they were dying, their brother used his powers to send their spirits to earth, where they would be reborn." He yawns again and stands up. The girls stare at him, still absorbing all of this information.

"I'd like you three to come with me. Everything that has been happening recently is exactly like an ancient prophecy. I believe Leviathan is soon going to break the goddesses' seal, and if that happens the entire universe is doomed. I need you to come with me, and together we'll learn the truth. I've already talked to your father, and he's agreed to let you go. It's up to you now…do you trust me?" The girls think it over. Everything that was happening…everything is changing. If anything, going with Glyja could help them get better prepared for fighting the Darkpuffs. One by one the girls turn to Glyja and nod, their voices lost. Glyja nods and walks to the door.

"I'll be waiting outside, say your goodbyes then we can be off."

**Battle's Room in the Void**

Battle is lying on her bed, half dozing while staring at the ceiling. The fight with Blossom and Buttercup had been fun, but it had left her feeling tired. As she dozes she begins noticing a strange melody. It sounds like violin music playing in the distance. She feels sleepier and her eyes close. Almost at the exact same time her eyes close, she opens them again. She sits up in bed and rubs her eyes. The music is still playing, coming from somewhere in the distance. She stands up and walks in the direction of the music, a distant look in her eyes. She walks off the edge of her room and appears in a dusty old building.

She coughs and looks around, beginning to feel scared when she realizes she's left home alone. The violin music is playing louder, and soon she is once more drawn to it, her bare feet leaving footprints on the dusty floor. She wanders through the house, becoming more entranced when the violin stops and another song begins.

"_New blood joins this earth and quickly he's subdued. Through constant pain disgrace, the young boy learns their rules"_ Battle walks into a room, which looks bigger than any room she'd ever seen. It has soft red carpet, dusty blue banners on the walls, and only the candles along the walls light the entire room. At the opposite end of the room is a boy, about her age, standing on a stage singing. His jester mask sends shivers down her spine. It looks oddly familiar, but at the moment she can't place it.

"_With time the child draws in, this whipping boy done wrong. Deprived of all his thoughts, the young man struggles on and on he's known. A vow unto his own, that never from this day his will they'll take away." _Battle walks up to the stage and stares at the boy. She sits down on the dusty carpet, completely entranced by his song. Her eyes slowly, so very slowly, begin dulling, while the blue light coming from the eyeholes of his mask burns brighter.

"_What I've felt, what I've known Never shined through in what I've shown. Never be, never see won't see what might have been. What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never free, Never me, So I dub thee unforgiven." _Battle sighs softly while she listens to the boy, unknowingly falling deeper and deeper under his spell.

"_They dedicate their lives To running all of his He tries to please them all This bitter man he is Throughout his life the same He's battled constantly This fight he cannot win A tired man they see no longer cares The old man then prepares To die regretfully That old man here is me" _Battle's beautiful and normally shining blue eyes have dimmed considerably. And still the eyes of the mask continue burning brighter.

"_What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never be Never see Won't see what might have been What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never free Never me So I dub thee unforgiven_" Battle's eyes are now almost solid white.

"_You labeled me, I'll label you. So I dub thee unforgiven" _The song draws to a close. The boy walks down to Battle and looks her in the eyes. He says something to her, but it's so far off and distant she can't make it out. He then stands up and begins laughing as Battle finally blacks out.

She wakes up in her own room once more, her head spinning and throbbing. She weakly crawls under the blankets and falls asleep, her whole body sore and tired.

_At the Top of Mount Everest _

The girls and Glyja are standing atop the world's tallest mountain. The girls are all shivering slightly from the cold, but Glyja appears unaffected. He turns to them and grins.

"This poncho comes in handy quite often," They glare at him, making him sweatdrop and turn back around. "Right anyway…this is the world link. It is here we can get where we need to go," the girls stare at him confused.

"Wh-Wh-What's a w-w-world link G-G-Glyja?" asks Blossom. The other two stare at him, waiting for an answer.

"It's the place where all universes are connected. Without teleportation powers, like the ones the Darkpuffs have, it's the only way we can travel to other dimensions. Just give me a moment and I'll open the gate to the dimension we need to go to," He pulls out his ocarina and begins playing. The wind on the mountain begins dying down, and an orchestra seems to join Glyja as he continues playing. It almost sounds like the mountain is singing. A spot on the ground in front of Glyja begins glowing, a strange symbol appearing in the snow. Glyja stops playing and motions for the girls to follow him. They all stand on the circular spot and vanish into thin air. The wind starts back up, and the glowing spot disappears.

The girls and Glyja appear in a strange place. The sky is solid gold, the ground solid white. Before them stands a colossal temple made of shining stone. The girls wander around the place in awe, while Glyja sits down on the steps of the temple. Finally they regroup and watch Glyja who has removed his poncho and is stretching his arms.

"Glyja…where are we?" asks Bubbles. Glyja stares at the ground as he speaks.

"This is the Sacred Realm; the place where this temple, the Temple of Three, resides. It is an ancient temple where the power of the three goddesses was sealed. Only those who can pass the test may enter and discover the truth…" Glyja seems tense. The girls notice this and look at each other.

"Are you okay Glyja? You look like something's bugging you." Says Blossom.

"Yeah, what kind of test is it anyway?" asks Buttercup. Glyja stands up and stretches. Waves of black and white energy begin swirling around him. All of his muscles tense. In a flash he grows to at least ten feet tall, his muscles bulge and grow, yet remain fairly lithe. His clothes morph into an ancient armor, and his eyes begin glowing. He now towers over the girls, a mass of muscles and power. They stare up at him, clearly freaked out by the turn of events. He speaks to them, his voice rumbling and powerful.

"I am your test Powerpuff Girls. I am the fourth deity, the god of death and rebirth. My name is Glyjametsu, and only by defeating me may you enter the temple and discover the truth about yourselves." The girls each back away, before moving into fighting stances. Glyjametsu unsheathes his swords, a beam of red, blue, green, and black light shooting from a sheath respectively. He now holds four swords with shining blades. The hilt of one is blue and navy, another is green and dark green, the third is red and pink, and the last one is black and white.

"Now you will know my power and the power of the four swords. Atma, Hyperion, Requiem, and Guradia, the four swords of the Heavens." Glyjametsu charges at them, moving with godlike speed (pun intended). He slams Atma into the ground, sending a shockwave at the girls. They scatter and fly at Glyjametsu. He swings Hyperion, sending a force of wind at Buttercup and knocking her out of the air. With Guradia he slows time around Blossom and swats her out of the air. Then with Requiem he sends a crescent beam of darkness at Bubbles. She dodges and fires her eyebeams at him. He blocks them and jumps at her, bringing the dull sides of all four swords down on her shoulders and sending her spiraling into the ground. Buttercup rams into him from the side, making him barely budge. He kicks her out of his way and slams Blossom out of the air with Atma.

"Ack! He's really strong…way too strong. How are we going to beat him if we can't even hurt him?" Blossom asks herself. She stands up and shakes her head to make it stop spinning. In that time Glyjametsu appears in front of her and knees her in the stomach, knocking her at least three feet into the air. When he's about to slam her away with Hyperion, Buttercup punches him in the face, making him stumble slightly. Blossom regains control and begins throwing punches at his stomach. Glyjametsu swings Guradia and teleports away from them. He appears by Bubbles who quickly attempts to sweep his legs out from under him. Instead she just kicks him in the shin, which doesn't faze him in the least. She gulps and quickly rolls away from Requiem, as Glyjametsu brings it down on her. She jumps up and throws all of her momentum into an uppercut, hitting Glyjametsu in the jaw. His head is jerked back, but the rest of him doesn't move. He smashes the hilt of Hyperion into her collarbone, driving her to the ground, and then stomps on her back. Bubbles' eyes bulge and she has to immediately begin struggling to suck air back into her lungs. Blossom and Buttercup ram into Glyjametsu, driving him off Bubbles. He swings Atma at them, knocking all three of them away with a shockwave.

The girls stand up and stare Glyjametsu down. He charges at them, swinging Atma and Hyperion at them. They dodge and begin attacking him with everything they've got. Glyjametsu knocks them away with Requiem, and then holds out all four swords. They begin glowing and fuse together when he slams them together in front of him. He raises the giant light sword above his head and brings it crashing down. The girls dodge and charge at him, beginning to attack him instantly. Glyjametsu pulls the swords apart and swings Atma and Guradia at them. The girls again dodge and continue attacking. He slows them down by swinging Guradia, then knocks them away with Hyperion's air crescents. The girls regroup and fires beams of energy at him. They combine and become a Mega Bomb. Glyjametsu fuses his swords and slashes at the Mega Bomb. The resulting explosion rocks the Sacred Realm and when it clears Glyjametsu's armor has been destroyed, but he is unharmed.

"He…He's not even got a scratch on him, and that was our strongest attack!" Glyjametsu sheathes his swords and sighs. He sits back down on the steps and waves past him.

"Go on in…" The girls stare at him blankly.

"But…we didn't beat you…" Glyjametsu stares at the ground, seemingly now in his own world.

"To end this fight, I have to kill you. And I've realized while fighting that I can't do that. Since I can't kill you, I can't win. Go on in…discover the truth and stop Leviathan," The girls walk past him. Blossom stops and stares at him, again feeling the same strange déjà vu once more. She shakes it off and goes after her sisters. Shortly after they leave, Glyjametsu looks up and faces the figure in front of him. The figure's mask grins cockily and evilly at him, while the eyes burn bright blue. "…I suppose it's time for our rematch," says Glyjametsu. Without a word the figure begins changing, becoming the monster that it is.

_With the Temple_

The girls walk through the temple, looking at the symbols along the walls. They find that they can understand all of them, despite never having seen them before. As they continue on the symbols begin speaking of things that are to come. A lobster-clawed demon infusing a city with his evil, a monkey with a mutated brain trying to take over a city, a rich girl with a power suit, three giant cells who attempt to be evil but fail, three super-powered little boys who nearly destroy a city's guardians, and finally a man mixing together sugar, spice, and everything nice to create the perfect little girl.

They reach a huge chamber. There is a shrine on the three of the room's walls. The girls find themselves walking away from each other and toward a specific shrine. Bubbles walks to the one on the left, Buttercup the one on the right, and Blossom the one on the north wall. Bubbles stops and looks at the shrine. It is made up of sapphire, and depicts the goddess of the sky Kisu. Bubbles gasps and takes a step back when she sees the goddess. Her golden hair, sapphire eyes, and air of innocence around her standing out amongst other things. Bubbles' bottom lip trembles. She just barely manages to voice four simple words.

Buttercup walks up to the shrine made of emerald, depicting the goddess of the earth, Delu. She gapes and steps back staring at the goddess. She has raven hair, emerald eyes, and bares an air of arrogance and toughness around her. She mouths four words, which leave her lips as a whisper.

Blossom approaches the ruby shrine honoring the goddess of time and space Sezu. She stares at the picture of the goddess, her breath catching in her throat. Sezu has long orange hair and pink eyes. She has an air of wisdom and confidence around her. Blossom's mouth moves on it's own, speaking four words in a whisper.

"She looks like me," they all say at the very same time. Memories of things they'd never seen flash through their minds. They see themselves as the goddesses sitting in a beautiful field, listening to Glyjametsu playing his ocarina. They see Kisu and Delu watching with interest as Sezu and Glyjametsu stare each other down, mirroring the way Blossom and Glyja had looked at each other in the park before their fight. They watch the three goddesses fight with Glyjametsu. All four fall to the ground and begin laughing. Then they see the goddesses facing a giant black…_thing_. The three glow and the thing roars in pain. Then as quickly as it started everything crashes to a halt and the girls are back in the temple. They are all breathing heavily, all of them now know the truth.

_In the Sacred Realm_

The girls leave the temple now knowing what they are. They are the reincarnations of the three goddesses. Bubbles is Kisu the goddess of the sky. Buttercup is Delu the goddess of the earth. And Blossom is Sezu the goddess of time and space. They look up and shriek, seeing Glyjametsu lying at the foot of the steps. There is a pool of blood surrounding him, and one of his swords is missing. They run to him, turning him over. They all gape at him; his chest has been completely torn open. He looks at them, his eyes distant, not there. He doesn't see Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Now he sees Sezu, Kisu, and Delu.

"S-S-Sisters…be…careful…he's come back…the jester is back and this time…he's more powerful than ever…"Atma, Hyperion, and Guradia glow and shatter. The particles from Atma enter Buttercup, Hyperion's enter Bubbles, and Guradia's enter Blossom. Glyjametsu mutters something in an ancient language, one they seem to know but can't understand. Then he goes limp, his body fading and vanishing in a shower of dust. The girls all stand up, all of them can feel something deep inside them, something greater than anything in the universe just waiting to escape. The Sacred Realm around them fades away and they find themselves in Townsville Park. Still shocked by the turn of events, the girls slowly head home, not noticing the figure standing in a tree nearby. His mask's eyes burn blue, the grin painted on the mask looking darker and eviler. He tosses his head back and begins laughing, as he fades out of sight.


	14. Ashes to Inferno

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Glyja, Beelzebub, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, the Four Swords of the Heavens, and the six dark puffs.**

Blaze sits in a bathtub filled with scalding hot bubbly water. She lifts some of the bubbles then blows them off her hands. She lies back and sighs in content, listening to the soft music playing in her room, just through the bathroom door. She looks at her hand and deep in her blue-white eyes a tiny ember appears. She watches as a small flame appears in her hand. She watches it dance, smiling gently. This is her gift…something she could actually do that her sisters couldn't. Her sisters are stronger than her…prettier than her (in her eyes anyway)…smarter than her…they are perfect and she is just a freak. But they can't do this. She makes the flame take the shape of two figures dancing. They can't do this; they can't control and make fire like she can. While she makes it dance, she unconsciously begins singing along to the song playing in her room.

"There's a little black spot on the sun today…" she murmurs to herself, making the flame change shape again, this time becoming Belial. Blaze chokes back a sob and watches the little flame walk up her arm and stop on her shoulder. She sits up and pulls her knees up to her chest. The Flame-Belial sits on her shoulder and leans toward her, kissing her on the cheek. Blaze begins crying; losing her concentration and making the flame disappear. While she's crying the temperature in the room begins heating up. It's reaches a temperature most people couldn't survive, but to Blaze it goes entirely unnoticed.

"It's not fair. I always try to be a good girl and do what Daddy tells me…why does this always happen to me? Why does Belial have to be our enemy? Maybe it's because I'm a freak…this is my punishment…" Someone banging on the door suddenly snaps her out of her thoughts.

" Hey Freak! Get dressed, Father has another job for you!" Blaze listens to Blood walk away and just sits there for a few moments. She drains the water, and begins quickly drying herself off, then dressing even quicker. If anything, she knows she doesn't want Blood or Blitz to have to come back and remind her that Father wants to see her. She quickly slips on her shoes, taking off out of her room at a fast walk. She can't imagine why Father would possibly want her to do, especially after she blew her last trip to earth by being captured by Belial. She gets a dreamy look in her eyes remembering the incident again. Hopefully Father wants her to go to Earth then she can run into Belial again!

She enters the throne room, which is situated in the very center of the lowest part of Hell, and walks nervously toward the throne itself. Leviathan is seated on it, laughing to himself while looking into an orb of some sort he holds in his claw. Blaze looks at the orb, trying to figure out what's so special about it. Looking into it, she can see a scene of some sort. To her, it looked like a giant monster fighting the Powerpuff Girls, only they looked a little different…nothing she could place her finger on but there was a difference. Leviathan's eyes begin burning darker red; the three girls in the orb begin glowing – the one who looks like Blossom glowing pink, the one who looks like Buttercup glowing green, and the one who looks like Bubbles glowing blue – and the giant monster begins screaming…some unearthly cry of rage and hatred, nothing else can be heard in it. Then…Blaze watches as shards of glass smash against the floor. Leviathan opens his claw and let's the rest of the glass fall out. He begins laughing once more as the shards of glass suddenly burst into black flames. Blaze stares at these flames, entranced by them. Then they fade away, waking her to the world around her. She looks back at Leviathan and gulps. Leviathan doesn't even look at her; he just leans back in his throne and begins forming another orb in his claw.

"I'm giving you another chance Blaze. I want you to go to Townsville and kill those Powerpuff Girls. If you fail, I can assure you, you'll know the true meaning of Hell." Blaze trembles and nods quickly, before vanishing in a flash of fire. When she's gone, two blue lights appear in the darkness to Leviathan's right. In the dark, a jester's mask and a silhouette can be seen.

"You don't really think she can kill the goddesses do you?" It asks Leviathan. The lord of Hell laughs, his voice raising several octaves and becoming snake-like.

"You must be joking. I don't plan on Blaze succeeding at all. However…you know how I love to add fuel to a fire." The Jester laughs, the eyehole's burning brighter blue.

"Yes, you do have a tendency to do just that. I suppose we can watch the little weakling go from ashes to inferno in mere moments." Leviathan grins and looks into the new orb, which is showing him Blaze.

"That was my plan."

_Townsville_

Blaze appears in Townsville, still trembling from her meeting with her father. She breathes heavily as she walks down the sidewalk. Not just the fear of her punishment if she fails, but the thought of what she has to do to succeed. Unlike her sisters, hell unlike the entire army of Hell she had never killed a person in her entire life. She vaguely recalled someone making her mad when she was younger and getting in a fight with her…but she'd been beaten within an inch of her life, and if it hadn't been for who she was she would've been killed. Blood and Blitz had '_of course'_ not done anything to help her. After that she'd pretty much just stayed on the sidelines in the war, only doing meaningless errands and reconnaissance missions. Up until they started in Townsville she'd been able to stay away from her father's bad side.

But now…he'd never asked her to do something like this, probably because she is so weak compared to her sisters, both physically and morally. She is a demon so that means she is supposed to be an uncontrollable killer and soldier of the burning Hells. But when she'd had the chance to fight someone so much weaker than she is she instead just tickled her. Blood had of course done her job and beat the living hell out of Buttercup. If they had had more time, Blood would have killed her.

Blaze sighs and continues down the sidewalk. She knows where the girls' house was, so she figured she'd just go there and start a fight or something. She looks up at the sky and sees three streaks of light go by. She gulps and turns around, noticing that the blue streak had stopped. Even without her super vision, Blaze knows that Bubbles is floating there…glaring at her. The other two fly back to their sister's side, and talk amongst one another. Now the other two look at Blaze, then back at Bubbles. Blaze gulps again, feeling the terror rising in her gut. The puffs land and stand across from Blaze. Blaze tries to keep herself from shaking, knowing that would just make things worse. Blaze continues just standing there, almost shaking, while the puffs ready themselves.

"She's just standing there…maybe it's a trap or something?" asks Buttercup. Bubbles doesn't take her eyes off Blaze, keeping her own kind of fear in check. Blossom watches Blaze's body language and can see that the Darkpuff is just barely trembling.

"Then why is she so afraid of us? I mean, our enemies have done some stupid things before. Maybe they sent her and JUST her to fight us?" Buttercup shrugs and scratches the back of her head.

"So let's just kick her butt and get her in a containment field or something," A sly smile slowly works its way onto Blossom's face. She nudges Bubbles in the side, making her jump.

"Hey Bubbles…how 'bout we get this Darkpuff back for tickling you?" Bubbles stares at Blossom for a few moments. One could almost see the gears in her head turning. Her eyes widen slightly, as a large smile works its way to her face.

"Really? You think it'll work?" Blossom grins and nods.

"I know it'll work, and think about it. This time we don't have to be on the receiving end." Buttercup grins as well; she and Bubbles nod and turn back to Blaze, still grinning. Blaze unconsciously takes a step back, feeling both fear and strangely excitement building up in her. Her eyes widen when she recognizes that excitement. She only felt that when…

"Oh no…please don't…I have to win this time…please not that…" she whispers to herself, her eyes beginning to water and spill over. Without any warning the puffs fly at her, making her practically scream in fear. Buttercup is the first one to hit her. She instantly grabs Blaze's waist and begins squeezing and goosing it. Blaze screams and begins laughing as she falls backward due to Buttercup's force. Blossom lands near Blaze's head and pulls her arms above her. She adjusts herself so that she's now sitting on Blaze's arms with perfect access to her poor sensitive armpits. Blossom begins slowly scribbling and scratching the ticklish skin, making Blaze laugh harder. Blaze bucks and tries to kick, but Buttercup is now sitting on her thighs, tickling her stomach and ribs fast and hard, completely opposite to the way Blossom is tickling her armpits. Bubbles sits down in front of Blaze's wiggling feet. She drags one finger up and down, along the soles of Blaze's flip-flops, making her scream and laugh harder. Bubbles tosses both of Blaze's flip-flops off and begins scribbling her fingers over her feet. Blaze screams and laughs, cries and bucks, but all of it is to no avail. She can't overpower all three of them together, and the fact that she's being tickled in three places at once makes her concentration practically moo.

"Giddy, Giddy, Giddy, Tickle, Tickle, Tickle little Blaze," says Bubbles in a mocking singsong voice. Blaze stops struggling and just lies there laughing and crying. Her face is now bright red and streaked with tears. Buttercup is now spider walking her fingers across Blaze's belly slowly and gently. Blossom continues to tickle her armpits slowly and gently as well. Bubbles has quickly discovered that Blaze's toes get an even better reaction than the soles of her feet do, and is focusing on them. While she lies there laughing and crying at the three puffs' total mercy, Blaze's mind begins wandering.

"_If you fail, I can assure you, you'll know the true meaning of Hell_" Blaze tries to block out the memories…but they begin coming fast and uncontrollably, like a dam that is breaking.

"_I can't believe Father is making me work with your pathetic ass. Why couldn't Blitz come with me? At least she's not a pansy ass wimp like you, Blaze_" Blaze cries harder, now the memories fueling her tears more than the tickling is.

"_Oh sick! What's up with these pictures Blaze? Ewww I always knew you were a freak, but…ewww! Blood! You aren't going to believe what Blaze was looking at!" _Blaze's cheeks burn red with embarrassment. That little incident was the beginning of the hell her sisters put her through.

"_EEK! Don't tickle me you little queer! I'm not some sick freak like you!" _Something inside Blaze begins leaking out. She opens her eyes for just a second…revealing that her pupils and irises are gone. Now only solid white remains.

"**_Give me Fuel! Give me Fire! Give me that which I DESIRE!" _**Her eyes open wide…and deep in them a tiny flame can be seen. An explosion of burning white-hot fire erupts around her, sending the puffs flying. They sit up, dizzy and a little off-balance from that sudden explosion. They look at the spot where Blaze once was and see a colossal tower of blue-white fire, shooting into the heavens.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-" says Bubbles, who is trembling.

"What h-h-happened!" asks Buttercup, also trembling. Blossom just shakes her head, not wanting to risk stuttering out something incoherent like Bubbles. The flames explode outward, revealing Blaze, who has undergone a transformation of sorts. Her eyes now have blue-white flames burning deep within them, but clearly visible to the puffs. Her body has the same fire arcing around her. Blaze's eyes are narrowed dangerously, her teeth gnashing together as she growls…violently and demonically. She throws her head back and screams in anger and hatred. Her body becomes engulfed by the flames once more, but this time they stay around her, creating a barrier of blue-white flames. Blaze looks back at them; her eyes are now no longer eyes. They are now two balls of blue-white fire. She lands on the ground, which explodes into flames when her bare feet touch it.

"Oh God…" says Bubbles

"Oh shit…" says Buttercup at the same time as Bubbles. Blossom opens her mouth to tell them to scatter, but at that very moment, Blaze's fist crashes into her stomach, driving all of the wind from her lungs. Blossom floats there in midair, not moving as she holds her stomach. She gasps air back into her lungs, but quickly loses it when Blaze backhands her and sends her flying. Blossom slams into a nearby building, aching from the attacks and the third degree burns that accompany them. Blaze throws a kick at Buttercup, who ducks and watches a trail of fire follow Blaze's leg. She tries to throw her own attack at the Darkpuff, but Blaze catches her fist and begins crushing it. Buttercup breathes heavily and gasps in pain from the bones cracking and the burns. Blaze tosses her into Bubbles, and the two crash into Blossom. They all stand up, but at that moment Blaze slams her fists into Bubbles and Blossom's stomachs, while her knee hits Buttercup in the chin. She vanishes in a flash of fire, hitting the girls from behind with a burst of blue-white flame that extends from the aura surrounding her. The girls are sent flying apart, as Blaze vanishes again. Buttercup scrambles to her feet, and is quickly assaulted by a fierce flurry attack from Blaze. She tries to stand, swaying back and forth weakly, but Blaze quickly ends her attempt at fighting back by punching her in the face, knocking her out and sending her flying. Blaze vanishes in another flash of fire.

Bubbles coughs and tries to catch her breath while trying to stand up. Blaze appears in front of her and kicks her in the stomach, knocking her up to her level. She then elbows her in the back, knees her in the gut, grabs her hair, and punches her in the face, knocking her out. She then throws her at Buttercup, who is still flying through the air, and vanishes.

Blossom stands up and looks around for Blaze. She turns around in a complete circle, then shrieks when Blaze suddenly appears in front of her. Without wasting time, Blaze punches Blossom in the stomach, jabs her in the throat, punches her across the face a few times, then brings her hands down on the back of Blossom's neck, knocking her out. She throws her toward her sisters, so the three will collide soon. She vanishes and appears in the sky. She growls and puts her hands in front of her as a huge amount of fire builds up in her hands. She then fires a colossal beam at them, which creates a devastating explosion.

When the light fades away, Townsville has a large crater in the middle of the road, with much of the surrounding neighborhood destroyed or ruined. Blaze's fiery aura fades away and her eyes return to normal. She looks around her, then down at the crater, gasping when she sees what had happened. Well…how it happened she isn't sure, but she's not complaining. Blaze grabs her flip-flops, which have remained miraculously unharmed in the little firestorm that had just taken place. In a flash of fire, Blaze vanishes…leaving the Townsville citizens to wander amongst the destruction and wander what happened to their heroes.


	15. What You Don't Know Can Be Your Defeat

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

In a flash of fire, Blaze appears in her home in the deepest part of Hell. She turns and shrieks, seeing her sisters standing there waiting for her. They both look incredibly annoyed, almost disappointed. Blitz has her arms crossed and glances away from Blaze every few moments. Blood has her hands clenched into fists at her sides, glaring dangers at Blaze. Blaze gulps and opens her mouth to start apologizing. That's when they hear footsteps approaching. They all turn in the direction and see Leviathan walk into the room. Blood growls under her breath, and Blitz takes to glaring at the floor. Blaze looks at her father, confused by her sisters just standing there and not making fun of her, or something worse. Leviathan grins and stops in front of Blaze. From a distance this is a sight to behold. Blaze is an infant compared to Leviathan, who easily stands well over 8 feet tall. Blaze can't help but tremble under the gaze of her father's blood red eyes.

"Well Blaze…I must say I'm impressed with your performance today," Blaze nearly dies from relief and shock hearing this. As long as she could remember, her father had _never_ praised her. "In fact, you left your sisters gaping in shock when they saw you." Blaze nervously looks at Blitz and Blood, who are looking anywhere but at Leviathan or Blaze. "However…" Blaze snaps back and looks at Leviathan. However always meant she'd done something wrong. And she was going to be in big trouble for it. Leviathan leans down, now face to face with her. "I told you to kill the Powerpuff Girls." Blaze gulps and stares into his eyes, falling as quickly under their spell as anyone else. "But due to your impressive performance today, I'm going to let you off the hook," Blaze jumps at Leviathan and wraps her arms around his neck before she can control herself.

"Thank you Daddy!" Leviathan continues grinning, although there is something in his eyes that reflects his wanting Blaze to let go of him very quickly. Blaze lets go and smiles up at Leviathan. She is happy; no she's darned jovial. This was the first time in her entire life her father had ever been remotely proud of her. She can feel Blood and Blitz's glares burning a hole in her back, so she looks back at Leviathan, who gives lazy gesture that she's free to go. Blaze speed walks past Blood and Blitz and to her room. Leviathan laughs to himself and turns around to leave.

"Blitz, I want you to try your hand against Belial tonight." Blitz stares at his back for a few moments, and then grins evilly.

"No problem Father, I'll tear her apart," Leviathan laughs again and walks back to his throne room. Blood turns to Blitz and crosses her arms.

"You'd better not let her cheat and beat you…I don't want you to have to go through her sick little game like I did," Blitz grabs Blood in a headlock and messes her hair up.

"Oh believe me, Belial is going to find that I don't have that pathetic weakness. Her sick little game won't work on me," Blood yanks herself from Blitz's grip and punches her in the shoulder.

"Well, be careful all the same. I don't want that bitch to be able to say she beat all of us." Blitz grins and black lightning begins crackling around her body.

"Oh don't worry. Like I said, she CAN'T beat me that way!"

_Townsville_

A sheet of harsh, cold rain has begun to pour down on Townsville quenching the remaining flames from Blaze's explosion. The Townsville citizens are still partially wandering around in a daze, not quite sure what had just happened. Suddenly someone screams, waking everyone from their stupor. They all gather near the tremendous crater, peering down inside. The girls lie deep within the crater, unconscious, battered, burned, and beaten. Faintly someone can be heard at the top of the crater telling someone to call Professor Utonium. While the citizens gather themselves, the girls once more find one of their powers working on its own accord. Their ability to share dreams…is it a dream? They say there's a thin line between dreams and a memory…

Three pretty young girls lie in an endless field of green grass and beautiful flowers. They all appear to be around seven or eight years old. One of them has long, beautiful orange hair and wears only a pink tunic. Another has pretty blonde hair that comes down just barely past her shoulders and is also only clothed in a tunic, though hers is blue. The third girl has shoulder length raven hair, and wears only a green tunic. They all doze peacefully in the warm light, as a refreshing breeze blows through this endless field. There is really no way to describe the place they are in…just simply Paradise. They all open their eyes, which are pink, blue, and green respectively, at the sound of footsteps approaching. A boy, older than they are by several years with spiky red hair and greenish-blue eyes leans over the orange haired girl and grins at her.

"Are you three really going to spend eternity just lazing around? Come on Sezu, I'd expect at least you doing something productive." The orange haired girl giggles and grins at the boy.

"Like you're much better Glyja," She sits up, still looking up at him and grinning. Glyja rolls his eyes and plops down on the grass. The other two girls are now sitting up as well, watching the usual verbal exchange between Glyja and Sezu.

"I happen to be much better. I'm better looking, a better fighter, and a much better dresser." The blonde begins giggling at his argument. "And I'm a much better musician," Sezu rolls her eyes, while the blonde continues giggling.

"Oh wow, you're sooo productive. Come on Glyja, this is Paradise. All we're supposed to do is laze around and have fun! Besides, I'm _way_ better looking than you," She sticks her tongue out at him. Glyja in turn sticks his tongue out at Sezu. The black-haired girl rolls her eyes then begins snickering at them. Sezu snorts and crosses her arms. "Besides, we all know I'm the strongest," Glyja lies down and grunts.

"Stupid more powerful little sisters…" Sezu giggles at him and lies back down as well. The black-haired girl grins and tickles Sezu's foot. Sezu shoots up and begins laughing, but doesn't pull her foot away.

"Cut it out Delu!" she says between laughs. The blonde tackles Delu and begins tickling her sides. Delu bursts into squeals and giggles.

"Kisu! Stop it!" Sezu jumps at Kisu and begins tickling her underarms. At the same time Delu grabs Sezu's foot and begins tickling her again. The three fall to the ground in a heap of laughs and giggles as they continue tickling each other. Glyja listens to them and smiles. While he stares up at the endless sky his smile fades away, and his eyes seem to lose their youthful shine. The girls finish their tickle fight and lies side by side on the grass, still giggling. Delu pushes herself up on her elbows, and stops smiling when she sees Glyja just lying there. Kisu sits up and pulls her legs up to her chest and also stares at Glyja. Sezu sits up and stretches her legs out.

"Hey Glyja, are you okay?" asks Kisu, scared by her own voice. None of them could ever remember a time when they weren't playing or lying around talking and enjoying each other's company. This was the first time in their eons of existence that they'd ever had to deal with something serious…and it was scary. Glyja yawns and waves his hand in a lazy gesture.

"It's nothing really…"

"You're lying Glyja…lying is wrong you know," says Delu. Glyja snorts…then looks away from the sky.

"…"

"Come on Glyja, you know you can tell us anything." Says Sezu. Kisu and Delu nod in agreement. Glyja feels his breath catch in his throat, and then he sighs and sits up, staring at the ground.

"…It's just…remember that sometimes you need to lose to win," The girls look at each other, confused by Glyja's statement.

_In the Girls' Room_

The girls are all sleeping peacefully. The dream they'd been having has ended, but their weary bodies continue to rebuild the strength they'll need in the upcoming days.

_In Citysville_

Blitz walks down the garbage filled streets of Citysville. She had decided that she'd much rather fight Belial here, where there is less chance of interruption. Plus, Townsville was the city Malebolgia and his daughters used as their link to the mortal world. Fighting Belial there was like giving her home court advantage. Blitz stops in the heart of the city, just as the world around her begins changing. The skies turn red and the clouds turn black. The ground turns black and splits open in many places. The buildings turn into giant stone columns. Blitz's breathing has sped up slightly, but despite the entire nightmare around her she manages to keep her cool. She looks around but can't find the person she knows is causing this.

"Come out and fight me you coward. Or are you afraid of me kicking the shit out of you?" She hears an evil laugh ring out nearby, and turns to see a staticy outline of a figure. She grins and lunges at the outline. The figure immediately stops laughing and dodges, solidifying and becoming Belial. Belial grins at Blitz.

"So I guess you're going to be a little harder than your sisters," Blitz crosses her arms and sneers at Belial.

"You can fool my eyes all you want. I can sense the electricity you give off just by living." Belial stands up and brushes her bangs out of her eyes.

"Then I guess I'll have to try a little harder than usual." Blitz flies at Belial and punches her across the face, sending her back a few steps. Belial rubs her cheek and loses her cocky expression. She lunges at Blitz and throws a flurry of punches at her. Blitz grins and begins to dodge Belial's assault. She smacks Belial's hand away and begins her own assault, which puts Belial on the defensive. Belial backs up slowly from the fury of Blitz's attack. Soon her back is pressed against a stone pillar. She continues dodging Blitz's insanely fast assault, which busts through the rock behind her leaving craters and holes in the wall. Belial drops and sweeps Blitz's feet out from under her. Blitz spins in midair and tries to land a kick on the back of Belial's head. Belial rolls out of the way and fires her eyebeams at Blitz. Blitz dodges them and stands up, cracking her knuckles.

"Is this all you've got? You're gonna have to try harder if you want to beat me bitch," says Blitz in a cocky, condescending tone. Belial growls and becomes a staticy outline. She appears behind Blitz, who turns and throws several kicks at her head. Belial returns to normal and begins another furious assault against Blitz. Blitz grins and jumps back. Black lightning sparks around her hands, which she thrusts forward, sending a wave of electricity at Belial. Belial dodges and fires her eyebeams at Blitz. Blitz crosses her arms and an electrical field surrounds her, reflecting the eyebeams. Blitz then throws a ball of black energy with electricity dancing around it at her. Belial kicks it and sends it flying into the air. When she lands, she is promptly nailed in the stomach by Blitz. Blitz nails her in the face, and then in the stomach, next in the throat, then finally roundhouse kicks her into a stone pillar. Belial stands up and wipes some blood from her lip.

"_Damnit, she's stronger than I thought she was. ARGH! Why does she have to be so difficult? Damned electro-sense. I don't know how to manipulate that one." _Belial's train of thought is broken by Blitz's fist, which slams into the pillar next to her. Belial punches Blitz in the face and is nailed in the stomach before she can continue her attack. Blitz grabs Belial's leg and swings her around before throwing her into another stone pillar. Belial stands up, still dizzy from the spinning, and fires her eyebeams at Blitz. They whiz past Blitz's head, which doesn't make Blitz so much as flinch. Blitz throws another Dancing Electro at Belial, who rolls out of the way. Belial comes up and begins firing her eyebeams at Blitz in short bursts while she walks toward her. Blitz is too heavily focused on dodging Belial's eyebeams that she doesn't notice how close Belial is getting until her legs are kicked out from under her. Belial slams her fist into Blitz's stomach, making her lose her breath. Blitz kicks Belial's legs out and jumps up. She kicks Belial in the stomach while she's falling then punches her and sends her spiraling along the street. Belial stands up, battle worn but still going fairly strong. Blitz growls under her breath, but keeps her expression calm.

"_Damn, she's not going down! This'll take forever if I keep fighting like this. She may even weaken me enough to beat me…I'll just have to finish her off now!" _Blitz floats into the air and raises her arms above her. Belial grins, marking Blitz's first mistake. Blitz then creates a small black energy ball, which begins growing in size. Soon it fills the skies, blocking out any light that remained. Belial's grin becomes deadlier, marking Blitz's second mistake. She vanishes, becoming an outline to Blitz, and appears in front of Blitz. She grins at her and puts an arm around her shoulders. Blitz growls at her and begins powering the ball up more. Her entire body is tensed and hard as steel from the energy. Belial could beat on her all day and wouldn't do any damage. Belial leans against Blitz and draws little circles with her fingernail in Blitz's bare armpit. Blitz snorts and grins at Belial.

"That won't work on me bitch! I'm not ticklish!" Belial drags her finger along Blitz's neck; up her cheek then back down to under her chin.

"Oh dear, however can I beat you?" Blitz snarls at Belial's comment and begins pouring more power into the orb. Suddenly she feels her arms lock up, and her legs do the same. She is now completely immobilized in the air. And she can't dispel this energy ball to get rid of it. It's way too powerful for that to happen. Belial runs the fingers on her right hand up and down Blitz's rib cage. Blitz growls at her.

"I TOLD YOU THAT WON'T WORK!" Belial floats in front of Blitz and continues attempting to tickle her ribs with that same cocky smirk on her face. Blitz just gets angrier and tries to fire her eyebeams at Belial. However, she can't feel them powering up in her eyes. She continues trying but gets the same effect. Somehow her powers had stopped working! Well aside from her ability to fly and this energy ball. She sneers at Belial, "You can keep it up all night and you won't make me laugh. I told you I'm not ticklish!" Belial looks up at her, a mischievous expression on her face.

"Really? Wow, that has to suck for me. I mean, with that big energy ball you're packing there's no way I can beat you if I 'play fair'. " Belial grabs the side of Blitz's shirt and tears it so that her stomach is now completely bare. Blitz shivers when a breeze blows across her now bare stomach, but keeps glaring at Belial.

"That was one of my best shirts!" She growls…but is quickly cut off by a squeal that leaps from her throat. Belial is slowly drawing little circles around Blitz's belly button. Blitz begins trying to squirm, trying to fight, trying to do anything to get rid of this feeling of helplessness. How the hell did Belial know her stomach was ticklish when Blitz herself didn't know about it? Belial sits cross-legged and floats in front of Blitz's stomach. She slowly scratches around Blitz's defenseless belly. Blitz caves almost instantly and begins squealing and giggling uncontrollably. Belial grins and continues dragging her nails around Blitz's tummy.

"It's ironic isn't it? You told me you weren't ticklish…but guess what? Next to Battle, you're probably the most ticklish girl I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Too bad you're only ticklish on your belly. If you were like Battle, we'd have a hell of a time!" She adds two more fingers, now tickling all over Blitz's belly with four fingers total. Blitz is now red in the face and laughing fast and hard. If she could move her body to thrash, odds are she'd be thrashing like crazy. Belial adds two more fingers and lightly blows across Blitz's belly. Blitz screams and laughs harder. The only part of her body she can still move is her head, which is thrashing from side to side trying to ward off the tickling. Her hair has come out of its double-helix ponytail. Belial adds another two fingers and moves closer to Blitz. Blitz is now crying hard and has lost her voice, leaving her only capable of gasping with silent laughter.

Belial sneers and adds her thumbs, now going full force on Blitz's belly. Blitz screams and laughs even harder than before, still just painful silence coming from her gaping mouth. Belial continues this for longer than Blitz's tormented mind could ever hope to comprehend. To Blitz, it feels like days, weeks, even months have flown by. Finally Belial moves in for the kill. She continues tickling Blitz's tummy with her fingers, but she leans forward and closes the gap between her mouth and Blitz's belly button. Her tongue dips into Blitz's belly button and sends her into a whole new level of Hell. What feels like hours upon hours fly by with nothing occupying Blitz's mind but the maddening scratching of Belial's fingers across her poor belly, and the even eviler slippery tickling of her experienced tongue in her belly button. Just when Blitz is about to pass out, while she's just hanging in between consciousness and unconsciousness, her body suddenly unlocks. Blitz's first instinct takes control, and she quickly wraps her arms around her waist. Belial grins and vanishes, just as the energy ball Blitz had been holding falls. Blitz sees it and quickly manages to get her brain to register a command. Only a moment before it would have hit her, Blitz vanishes. The ball continues falling, consuming the whole of Citysville. When the silent explosion ends…Citysville is nothing but a colossal crater, crackling with unholy electricity.

_Blitz's Room_

Blitz appears in her room, which is completely dark, landing on her bed thanks to her precision teleporting and a crapload of luck. She lies there for a few moments, still giggling slightly, and still crying softly. She pulls her pillow over her head and begins whispering to herself over and over again.

_"She's going to pay. I swear I'm going to make her pay. She's going to pay, I swear I'll make her pay,"_


	16. Then It All Crashes Down

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Battle yawns mightily and sits up in bed. She looks around, seeing the world only in a mass of blurs, then puts her glasses on and climbs out of bed. She walks off the edge of her room and appears in a bathroom. She stands in front of the sink and begins her morning ritual of brushing her teeth and hair, leaving it out of its ponytail. She takes her glasses off and washes her face. After drying her face off she puts her glasses back on and walks out of the bathroom back to her room. When Bomb woke up she'd ask her to help her get her hair in its ponytail, like every morning. She continues her usual morning, changing out of her nightgown and into a blue jean skirt and a light green tank top. She yawns and walks off the edge of her room.

She appears in a living room. There is a TV on one end, a couch in front of the TV, a recliner off to the left of the couch, a lamp, and that's pretty much it. Battle sits down on the couch and begins cycling through the channels on the TV. She feels someone sit down beside her and assumes what anyone would assume.

"Morning Bomby, can you help me with my hair?" She continues to stare at the TV, but begins getting scared when she notices the lack of response from Bomb. She feels an arm go around her shoulders, and calms down a little. She smiles and looks beside her…then shrieks and begins trembling when she realizes who exactly has their arm around her.

"Morning Nerdo, what's the matter?" Belial tightens her grip around Battle and grins. Battle gulps and begins trying to get her voice to work.

"B-B-B-B-Be-Be-Be-Belial, b-b-b-but you sh-sh-shouldn't be up this early!" She looks at the clock in the room, and her jaw drops open in terror. The clock says that it's about half-past noon.

"Looks like you slept in Nerd, and Bomb ain't here to help you fix your hair. Dad sent her to take care of something while you were still asleep. So guess what? You and I are gonna have some quality time together and play a little game," There is a slight pop sound. The room around them just pops out of sight and in its place is a park. It isn't Townsville Park, that much Battle can tell. She really doesn't care where it is. She's away from home and with Belial to boot. They are sitting on a bench and Belial still has her arm around Battle. There are other kids, their age and younger, running around and playing. Their parents are probably off talking to one another somewhere. Belial's arm slides off Battle's shoulders and around her waist. Battle begins shaking, gulping down the lump that has formed in her throat.

"Hmmm, I wonder what game we can play…Oh I know!" Belial begins scratching and squeezing Battle's side. Battle shrieks and begins laughing and squealing. She tries to get away from Belial, but only manages falling off the bench. Her glass, thankfully, aren't harmed when she hits the ground face first. She rolls over onto her back and tries to scoot back away from Belial, but her sister has already locked her ankles between her knees. So now Battle is lying on the ground with her legs pointed at an angle and her ankles locked between Belial's knees. Battle almost begins crying then and there, but the crying is put off for a while when she begins screaming and howling with laughter. Belial lightly tickles up and down Battle's soft, defenseless feet. Battle's arms become locked above her head, thanks to Belial's powers. In fact, her entire body has locked up, leaving her unable to do anything but lie there and laugh. Belial lightens up slightly, now just using two fingers to tickle the base of Battle's toes.

Some of the kids that had been playing have wandered closer to the two. The fact that Battle is just lying there and not doing anything to defend herself gives the kids the false impression that she is enjoying Belial's tickling attack. One of the kids finally walks up to Belial and asks her what's going on.

"Oh nothing, I'm just playing a game with my sister. You can feel free to play with us if you want. And don't worry about her asking you to stop, she loves being tickled and that's just part of the game," The kids just stand around and watch a few more minutes, before one little boy sits down and begins tickling Battle's left armpit. Battle screams and begins laughing harder, her face now beginning to turn bright red. The little boy continues to tickle her, now getting into the "game". After a few moments a little girl sits down and begins tickling Battle's other armpit. One by one more and more of the kids join in. One boy and girl begin tickling her ribs, two boys and a girl tickle her belly, one girl tickles her hips, another couple of girls tickle her thighs, a girl and a boy tickle her knees, one girl even tickles her neck. Battle is now screaming and laughing harder than she can ever remember laughing before in her life. Belial is now going all out on her feet, tickling up and down, down and up with all ten fingers.

More and more kids, and even some teenagers and adults watch this amusing little game. None of them is aware of how much torture this actually is for Battle. A half hour, maybe even an hour passes before Belial releases her powers on Battle. Battle immediately teleports away, crying hysterically and giggling continuously. Belial grins and lies back on the bench. To the rest of the people in the park, Battle had gotten free and just run off. The participants and spectators slowly leave and go back to doing whatever they had been doing. Belial stares up at the clouds and grins, before also teleporting home.

_Battle's Room_

Battle appears in her room and falls on her bed, her glasses falling off and landing on the floor. She is still crying hysterically, humiliated more than any other time in her life. Ever since they were little kids, Belial had treated her like crap. She and Bomb had made a tiny mistake and pissed Belial off. It was something stupid and pointless, and Belial had held a grudge against them their entire lives. Specifically Battle. Belial had always hated Battle, and that little incident just made everything worse.

Belial had done cruel things to her before. Hell, Battle had never had a moment of pride and happiness last very long thanks to Belial. But this was probably the worst thing Belial had ever done, embarrassing her in public. And all of those humans just thought it was a game, and there was nothing Battle could do to change anything. Battle's mind is working faster than she can actually comprehend. She doesn't even know what she's thinking when she feels herself stand up and walk off her room and into the bathroom. There is a soft blue glow floating behind her when she enters. A blue glow that looks like two eyes. The glow is only there for a split second before it's gone. Mysteriously…there is a small razor lying on the sink, just carelessly left out. Something about the metal seems...almost supernatural.

She can hear a soft melody playing. But there's nothing around her to produce music. Something tells her that this razor is her key to ending Belial's reign of humiliation and pain over Battle. Battle shivers, fear building up in her…threatening to choke her to death. She almost reaches out for the razor, but pulls her hand back quickly. The music she can hear becomes more demanding, more powerful. She has to obey it, as she reaches out and picks up the razor. The music is becoming more and more demanding with every passing second, and Battle is losing this subconscious war to resist it. She stares at the razor, her eyes watering and her body falling more and more out of her control. She holds the razor over her wrist, still subconsciously fighting with the strange power trying to take control of her.

That's when something decides to deny Battle's game over. Bomb enters the bathroom and screams when she sees what Battle is about to do. She grabs Battle's arms and pulls them apart, which snaps Battle out of her hypnotized state. Battle looks into Bomb's watery, worried eyes and lets the walls break down. She grabs Bomb tightly and begins wailing. Bomb hugs her tightly, also crying. Bomb manages to get them both to her room, and sits down on her bed with Battle still wailing in her arms.

"Battly what were you thinking!" Battle hugs Bomb tightly and barely manages to choke out a response.

"I hate her so much Bomby, I'm tired of her picking on me all the time," Battle chokes on a sob and goes back to crying into Bomb's shoulder. Bomb rubs her back and holds her tightly. After a while Battle finally cries herself to sleep. Bomb tucks her into her bed and lies beside her for a few minutes, just stroking her hair and thinking. There had been several times in her life when Bomb had wanted to say out loud how much she hated Belial. But this, this was just way too far. Because of Belial, Bomb had almost lost the most important person in her life. The person she loved more than anything in the universe. Belial had gone WAY too far this time, and Bomb wasn't going to let her get away with this. Bomb makes sure Battle is tucked in and comfy, then she gets up and leaves her room.

Bomb appears in Belial's room, angrier than she'd ever been in her entire life. Belial is lying on her bed, watching something on her TV (most likely Blossom). She looks up and grins at Bomb when she sees her. Bomb stays on the edge of the rock, just glaring at Belial and trying to keep some kind of control over herself. Belial walks up to Bomb, one arm dangling at her side and her other hand on her hip, and smirks condescendingly at her.

"Hey **sis**, anything I can help you with?" Bomb grinds her teeth together, clenching and unclenching her fists. She stands up on her tiptoes so she is eyelevel with Belial and looks at her with fire in her eyes.

"I can't believe you would make her want to do that to herself!" Belial looks confused, but figures it has something to do with Battle so she just snorts and shrugs.

"It's not my fault if the nerd overreacted. We just played a little game with the humans," Bomb stops standing on her tiptoes and clenches her fists tighter, wincing slightly when her fingernails penetrate the skin.

"She tried to kill herself because of you! Why can't you just let that stupid thing go and get over it?" Belial glares at her and clenches her own fists.

"I don't have to! I'm never going to forgive you for that!" Bomb clenches her eyes shut.

"We just tickled you! It's not like we did anything serious!" Belial shoves Bomb back, now grinding her own teeth together.

"There's no way you could understand!" Bomb screams and does something she's wanted to do for years. She punches Belial in the face, and together they vanish from their home.

_The Same Park From Before_

Belial takes a couple steps back, holding her nose. She is breathing heavily, almost snarling. Bomb lunges at her. Belial punches Bomb, sending her spiraling backward. Bomb flips and lands on her feet, instantly flying at Belial and punching her in the stomach. Belial doubles over on reflex, and is kneed in the face by Bomb. Bomb then gathers explosive energy and prepares to slam it down on the back of Belial's head. Belial blasts her with her eyebeams and knocks her away. This time when Bomb catches herself, she is punched in the stomach, kneed in the chest, and hit in the back of her neck. She drops to the ground, but catches herself and swings around, kicking Belial's legs out from under her. Belial spins and kicks at Bomb's face. Bomb rolls out of the way and tosses a couple of explosion balls at Belial. Belial twists her body around so she dodges them, then fires a colossal beam of violet energy at Bomb. Bomb jumps over it and begins glowing. She thrusts her arms outward and releases a devastating explosion that sends Belial flying through a jungle gym.

Belial tears free from the crumbled metal and fires her eyebeams at Bomb again. This time they are massive, about the size of a train and coming at Bomb ten times harder. Bomb quickly falls out of the sky and uses gravity to avoid Belial's attack. Before she can begin flying again, Belial kicks her hard in the back. Bomb is sent back up into the air, spinning wildly out of control. Belial jumps up and grabs her by the hair. She flies out of the air with Bomb and drives her head into the ground. The ground explodes and Belial begins feeling a tingly sensation moving up her arm. She throws Bomb away and fires an energy beam at her. Bomb releases another wave of explosive energy, canceling out Belial's attack. When she opens her eyes Belial uppercuts her hard in the chin, then kicks her across the face and sending her into the ground.

Bomb stands up dizzily then begins gathering explosive energy in her hands. She slams the two newly formed explosion balls together and creates a giant one, which she throws at Belial. Belial tries to stop her charge at Bomb and move out of the way, but the explosion the ball creates sends her spiraling out of the air and into Bomb's waiting assault. Bomb punches Belial in the stomach, followed by blows to the head, throat, shoulders, chest, and finally a roundhouse kick that knocks her away. Belial stands up, her hair out of its ponytail, her clothes battered and torn, and her eyes blazing. Bomb is in almost the same condition, only slightly worse due to Belial's attacks hitting harder.

Belial suddenly pops out of sight, leaving Bomb looking around nervously. She knew very well that Belial was controlling her senses with her psychic powers, but she didn't know how to fight it. She is suddenly punched in the stomach and knocked into the air. Belial appears and blasts her with her eyebeams and sending her flying. Bomb crashes into the ground like a rag doll, and then slowly stands up. This time she makes a big mistake in her next attack. When Belial is almost about to drill her in the face, Bomb reaches out and attempts to grab Belial to throw her. However…that's not how Belial sees this maneuver. Bomb's hands catch her waist and Belial instantly freaks out, screaming and blasting Bomb far away with her eyebeams. Belial has tears in her eyes, and is shaking all over. She rubs her sides and almost seems to go through a transformation. When she looks up, Bomb suddenly realizes just how deep the shit is that she'd gotten herself into. Belial's eyes are hard and emotionless, her expression set in stone. Belial vanishes from sight and suddenly appears standing over Bomb.

"You're SO going to pay you little bitch. I'm going to make you pay!" Bomb shivers, all of the fight and rage burning out almost instantly and giving way to fear. Belial stomps on Bomb's chest, making her shriek silently as the air is forced out of her. Belial drops to her knees, pinning Bomb to the ground with her psychic powers. Bomb's arms are stretched far above her head and the rest of her is immobilized. Bomb's eyes water and her instinctive fear of Belial comes crashing back to earth. Belial doesn't even waste time messing with her. She grabs Bomb's sides and begins tickling fast and hard. Bomb tries to hold it in but caves and begins screaming with laughter.

"You like that huh? You like it? I'm just getting started!" Belial's hands move up Bomb's shirt so she is now tickling Bomb's bare sides. Bomb begins crying and screaming under Belial's hard, merciless assault. Her face turns bright red, her cheeks streaked with tears, and her entire body aching from the laughing and the fight. Belial continues tickling Bomb with all she's got, leaving her sister a wreck of laughter and hysterical crying. Almost two hours later, Belial finally decides she'll let Bomb rest. She stands up and releases her hold on Bomb. Bomb curls up into a fetal position and continues giggling and crying. Belial kicks her hard in the side, making her shriek in pain.

"Get out of my sight, or I swear I'll make you wish you were dead. You'll be as fucking suicidal as the little nerd." Bomb quickly manages to teleport home, leaving Belial alone. "…There's no way I'm going home for a while. I don't want to see either of them for a good long time…I need to cool off. Let's see if I can find some older girls to play with!" Belial grins and walks off, still steaming but already cooling down at the thought of playing her little game.

She wanders through the city aimlessly, trying to carefully choose her target. She stops in front of a shop mirror and quickly fixes her hair before continuing on. She passes by a church, which makes her nearly hurl, and is suddenly struck from behind by something. She turns around and sees Blitz behind her, grinning evilly. Belial grins back, her usual condescending attitude ready to take control. Something nails her in the side and sends her crashing into the steps of the church. She looks up and sees Blood, who is snarling. She stands up and looks back and forth between the two, actually enjoying the idea of two victims at once. Something slams into her back, burning away part of her shirt and leaving her lying on the ground in pain. She pushes herself up and turns around to see Blaze standing there, with a sad expression on her face.

"_So they're all here to beat me? This should be fun!" _She pops out of sight to Blood and Blaze, but is nailed in the stomach by Blitz. When she goes to counterattack, Blood punches her in the face. Belial stands up and charges up her eyebeams. Before she can fire, Blaze blasts her with another wave of hellfire, knocking her back. While she is stumbling Blitz punches her in the stomach. Blood appears and kicks her in the side of the head. Blitz grabs her arm and spins her around before throwing her into a wave of fire provided by Blaze. Belial weakly stands up, then screams in pain when Blitz blasts her with a wave of black lightning. She drops to the ground, barely conscious. Blood kicks her in the side, making her reflexively curl up into a fetal position. Blitz grabs her by her hair, and then slams her head into the ground, knocking her out. Blood tosses her over her shoulder and grins at Blitz. Blaze joins her sisters, staring at the ground and apparently not at all happy with the outcome. Blitz grins and for the first time in her life shows some kindness to Blaze. She claps Blaze on the shoulder, getting a startled response from her "little" sister. Blitz nods at Blaze. Blaze looks at Blood, who smirks slightly. Blaze stares at the ground blushing.

"Come on, let's get the bitch back home and wait for her to wake up so we can have some good old fashioned revenge." Says Blitz. Blood grins and nods, and together the three vanish with Belial.


	17. Oh How The Tables Have Turned

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.  
****A/N: Well everyone, I'm sure this is the moment you've all been waiting for. I know I have been ;-) Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

_Darkness…floating in darkness…she can't see anything around her. All she remembers is pain. She can vaguely recall fighting with her sister…she can't quite remember what it was about. Then she remembers three people…they beat the crap out of her and left her alone in this darkness. So here she is, unable to see anything, smell anything, feel anything, even hear anything. Wait…that's not true, she can hear something._

"Is she EVER going to wake up?"

"What's up with the chair we've got her in?"

"It was the only one available, which sucks massively. It'll make it harder to work with her."

"What exactly are we going to do?"

"Duh, beat the shit out of her until she tells us where Malebolgia's hiding,"

"Oh yeah! That sounds fun!"

"Ugh…" Belial slowly opens her eyes and looks around. Everything is a mass of blurs that she can't separate. She shakes her head and tries to wipe her eyes, only to find that she can't move her arms. Her eyes snap open in fear and shock. Her head snaps to the side as a sharp pain rises from her cheek where she'd just been slapped. She shakes her head and looks up at Blitz, who is leaning over her grinning. Blood is behind Blitz, also grinning, while Blaze is sitting against the wall behind her sisters. Belial growls and tries to pull her arms down, but again realizes she can't move. In fact, she can't move her legs very well either. She looks down at herself and sees that she is locked in a chair with her arms locked above her. Her legs are locked in a pair of stocks at the end of the chair's long seat, which is easily the right length for her legs. She can feel utter fear building in her chest. This is the exact same type of chair she'd locked both Blossom and Blaze in before. She looks up at her captures, managing to keep a cocky, calm attitude.

"Well aren't you three clever. So now that you've got me what're you going to do with me? Huh?" Blitz slaps her again and stands up straight.

"We're going to put you through your own little Hell until you tell us where Malebolgia is hiding…then we MIGHT consider stopping in a few years." Belial snorts and laughs, though in her heart she is terrified to the bone.

"Oh please, you three? You wouldn't be able to break me no matter how hard you try! I have a very high pain tolerance, I seriously doubt you'll be able to torture me," Blitz growls and socks Belial across the face as hard as she can. Belial's head rockets to the side, but moments later she looks at Blitz and grins, apparently not hurt. Blitz growls again, clenching her fists. Blood walks up beside Blitz and glares at Belial.

"You still think you're so perfect. We're the ones in control now! You're in OUR world now you bitch!" Belial laughs again, then spits in Blood's face.

"Your world? Please, you three don't scare me in the least!" Blaze stares at Belial, very much aware of the cocky Darkpuff's position. Her sisters are too blind to see the obvious answer that is right in front of their faces, which is something that makes Blaze smile proudly to herself. She'd figured this out way before they ever could. Belial's powers to manipulate senses obviously worked on herself as well. So she would probably just turn off her pain sensors if they tried to torture her that way. The only obvious answer…was to work off the opposite end of the spectrum.

Blaze stands up and walks over to Belial's opposite side. Belial closes her mouth in the middle of an insult when she sees Blaze coming towards her. Blaze's sisters were ignorant of many things, and one of those just happened to be something Blaze was highly aware of. Belial gulps and tries to pull away from Blaze when she stops on her side. Blaze lifts her hand and holds it up to Belial's bared armpit, just centimeters away. Belial gulps and begins fidgeting, trying harder to pull away from Blaze. Blitz and Blood watch, both curious and both slightly irritated at Blaze. They were supposed to be getting information from Belial, not playing with her. Blaze stretches out her first finger, keeping it just away from Belial's armpit. Belial lasts about…maybe at best a fourth of a second before she begins bucking and laughing. Blaze hasn't even touched her yet, and Belial is already laughing hard. Blaze smiles almost evilly and begins lightly drawing circles around Belial's armpit. Belial screams like a banshee and begins bucking and laughing harder. Blitz and Blood look at each other, the light bulbs clicking on. They aren't too thrilled with the idea, but at the same time, revenge is revenge.

"I got her stomach," says Blitz

"Her armpits are mine!" says Blood. Blaze gulps and steps back. Blood walks behind the chair and begins lightly scribbling her fingernails along Belial's armpits. Belial bucks, shakes, and screams as her face begins turning red from laughing so hard. Blood stops tickling Belial's right armpit and speeds up tickling Belial's left armpit. Belial leans to her right and continues laughing hard. Blood stops tickling her left armpit and begins tickling her right armpit hard. Belial, of course, leans to the left trying to pull away. She really can't pull herself enough to make a difference, so Blood continues her little game of switching back and forth. After a while she begins tickling both armpits. She tickles fast and hard in Belial's right armpit and slow and soft in Belial's left armpit. Belial arches her back off the chair just a bit and screams with laughter.

Blitz grins to herself and sits down on Belial's thighs. She lifts her shirt and tickles lightly along Belial's soft, smooth belly with just her pointer fingers. Belial laughs harder, crying hysterically already. Blitz grins and just continues with this soft tickling. She looks at Blaze out of the corner of her eye. "Hey Blaze, you got anything that could make this worse for her?" Blaze stares at Blitz for a few moments, then blushes and nods. Blitz grins, "Well what are you waiting for? Go get some," Blaze nods and quickly leaves the room, heading for her own room. Blitz turns back to Belial and adds another finger on each hand. Belial's flat belly shivers and trembles under her fingers while Belial herself continues laughing, harder if that's even possible. Blood has switched tactics, now tickling soft and soft for a few minutes, then switching to fast and hard, then back again. Blitz goes all out, spider walking her fingers all over Belials tummy. Belial's breath catches in her throat for a second, but soon the laughter is shaking the room once more. Blitz slips one finger in Belial's belly button and begins tickling it, which draws more laughter from the ungodly ticklish Darkpuff.

Blaze comes back in the room with a sack. She blushes and hands it to Blitz. Blitz continues tickling Belial's stomach with one hand, and shuffles through the stuff in the sack with the other. She pulls out a couple of peacock feathers, and hands them to Blood. Blood then begins promptly feathering Belial's armpits, making her scream and laugh louder than before. Blitz takes a cotton swab and a feather out of the sack, sets it on the floor, then goes back to giving Belial's stomach her full attention. She begins by focusing her attention on Belial's bellybutton, tickling around it with the cotton swab and tickling inside it with the feather. This of course makes Belial laugh and cry harder. After a while Blitz moves on to using the feather to tickle the rest of Belial's impossibly sensitive skin. The cotton swab continues it's faithful duty of tickling around and in Belial's bellybutton.

Blaze watches this whole ordeal, wishing to take part in it more and more with every passing second. But…she doesn't want to get in her sisters' way. Her eyes fall on Belial's wiggling feet, which are still clad in her black sneakers. Blaze just stares at them for a few minutes, drowning in the sound of Belial's hysterical, but beautiful, laughter. Blaze looks up at Belial's tear streaked, bright red face. Blaze loved tickling other girls; Belial loved tickling other girls. Blaze got excited when she thought of tickling other girls; Belial probably did too. Blaze loved being held down and tickled mercilessly…so Belial must like it too right? After all, since Blaze got her turn to be restrained and tickled it's only fair that Belial gets a turn too. Blaze walks over to Belial's feet and just stares at the Darkpuff's sneakers. Belial can almost sense someone near her feet and immediately screams and begins laughing harder. After a while, Blaze reaches up and grabs the shoestrings, ready to begin her own "payback" as her sisters called it.

Belial's psychic powers were both a blessing and a curse to her. She could manipulate senses and see where the nerves in her opponent's body are the most sensitive and how sensitive they are in general. And it works both ways…she can control her own senses and knows exactly where she is the most sensitive and how sensitive her skin is…that was why the thought of being tickled scared her so badly. Battle was more ticklish than anyone should ever be, Blitz was more ticklish (though it was restricted to her stomach), and Belial…Belial was more ticklish than both of them combined plus five. Her powers also prevented her from falling into that hazy minded "distance" that you fall into when you're tickled non-stop. It prevented her from losing awareness, from losing her ability to think, from even losing her voice. The second she feels someone tugging on her shoelaces, her brain goes into hyper drive, and she begins trying to get herself to stop laughing long enough to beg for mercy. On a scale of one to ten, Belial's ticklishness was probably a twelve or fifteen. On her feet, she was somewhere between twenty-five and thirty out of ten. She had made sure no one had tickled her for five years…not since her sisters had tickled her.

_Flashback Five Years Ago_

Belial, Bomb, and Battle are all little five-year-old puffs that still haven't developed their fingers, toes, noses, and all those missing body parts. Belial was sitting on the floor in front of the couch in their living room watching TV with her bare feet tucked under her, and only wearing a nightie like her sisters. Bomb and Battle are giggling and squealing on the couch while having a little tickle fight. Bomb eventually gets Battle pinned and lets her have it for a couple of seconds. Bomb stops and the two hug before turning to watch the TV, still holding each other. Bomb looks down at Belial and nudges Battle, whispering something to her. Battle giggles and nods.

Belial is happily enjoying watching the antics of the cartoon characters on the TV, on this fateful morning. She is suddenly tackled from behind by Bomb and Battle. At first Belial just giggles with them, but the second Bomb begins tickling her sides she screams and begins laughing hard and crying. Battle tickles her feet, which makes Belial scream louder than ever before, and cry harder than she'd thought possible. Only a few seconds into it, Battle and Bomb slide off Belial and watch their "big" sister lie on the floor crying for a few minutes. Belial sits up and wipes her eyes, glaring at her sisters. She chokes down a sob and lightly shoves Battle, which doesn't even make Battle flinch, before walking away sniffling.

_End of Flashback_

That was why she hated her sisters, why she hated being tickled. Just one playful little tickle and she was screaming, laughing, and crying. It made her feel pathetically weak. Then…the thing that made everything else seem like a blessing…

Blaze slips Belial's sneaker off, then slowly slips her sock off. She stares at Belial's slightly wide, slightly big, wiggling foot. Belial screams again, then goes back to crying and laughing hysterically. Blaze removes Belial's other shoe and sock, then just stares at both of Belial's beautiful, helpless feet. She slowly reaches up and drags on fingernail down Belial's foot, amazed at how baby soft Belial's feet are. It's almost like she'd never walked a day in her life. Belial breaks the sound barrier with her scream and arches her back off the chair as much as physically possible, which catches Blitz off guard. When Belial hits the chair once more, she just laughs harder than ever before, lacking the strength to struggle anymore. You see...the thing that makes it a million times worse…is that Belial loses her powers completely when her feet are tickled.

Blaze lightly scratches the sole of Belial's utterly ungodly ticklish right foot. Belial almost can't even feel Blitz and Blood tickling her anymore. The tickling sensations shooting to her brain from her right foot is double the amount of tickling Blitz and Blood are both dishing out. Blaze tries the base of Belial's toes, getting a slightly (practically unnoticeable to anyone not looking really hard for it) less effect. She begins lightly scratching Belial's left foot with just one finger, doubling the amount of agony Belial is in. Now Belial can't feel the tickling at her stomach and armpits. The light tickling coming from her feet drowns them both out massively. Blitz and Blood both seem to notice this and stop tickling, taking note of the fact that Belial's laughing hasn't slowed down or become any softer. Blitz climbs off Belial and smirks. Blood walks to the door and opens it, allowing most of Hell to hear the tortured laughter of Malebolgia's oldest and cockiest daughter.

"We'll just leave you and the tickle freak to play. Have fun!" Blitz and Blood both laugh as they leave, closing the door behind them" Blaze doesn't register her sisters leaving; she is far too engrossed in what she is doing. She is now tickling softly over Belial's feet with all ten fingers, staying on the soles of her feet that are more sensitive than her toes. Belial DOES notice Blitz and Blood leaving, but just laughs harder and cries more hysterically due to Blaze's tickling. Blaze just continues to stare dreamily at Belial's perfect (in her eyes) feet, never slowing up on tickling them mercilessly. Even if she did know how much pain this was causing Belial…the look in Blaze's eyes says she wouldn't be able to stop even if she wanted to. She snaps out of her trance long enough to register the sack of "goodies" next to her, along with a stool that hadn't been there before. Without letting up on Belial's feet, she pulls the stool up and sits down on it. She stops tickling Belial's left foot, speeding up on her right foot to make up for the difference, and reaches into the sack. She pulls out a couple of toothbrushes and begins tickling Belials feet with them.

Belial thought that her little five second tickle torture at Bomb and Battle's hands had been bad. She didn't even know the meaning of Hell. Blaze begins scrubbing Belial's feet with the toothbrushes, getting the base of her toes, between her toes, and all over her soles. As impossible as it may seem, Belial's laughter has become even louder than before. Blaze drinks in all of this…the sight of Belial's beautiful, slightly pink soled due to the tickling, feet wiggling and trembling and the sound of Belial's equally beautiful and perfect laughter. Time no longer has any meaning to either of the two Darkpuffs. Belial can't care to keep track of it, and Blaze just doesn't care. Blaze lightly tickles Belial's right foot, while she reaches into the sack to put away the toothbrushes and find some new toys.

She pulls out some feathers, taking them gently and beginning to lightly feather Belial's feet. Belial enters a whole new level of Hell once more. The feathers seem to be a hundred times more effective than anything Blaze had used so far. Belial laughs hysterically, her eyes now puffy and red from the endless crying. Blaze slows things down, just lightly feathering Belial's soles and toes. Nonetheless, Belial's laughing stayed at its new crescendo of sound. Blaze's eyes never once leave Belial's feet while she tickles them. The wiggling, twitching, flexing, every movement is absorbed fully into her mind. She tickles Belial's toes for a while, which lowers Belial's laughing back to where it had been with the toothbrushes. Blaze subconsciously leans nearer and nearer to Belial's beautiful feet, her eyes only half open now. She drops the feathers and finally closes the gap. She takes hold of the back of Belial's right foot and begins kissing and licking it, not even thinking about what she's doing anymore. Belial screams and her laugh crescendos back into a grand fortissimo.

Belial's foot shakes and wiggles against Blaze's hold, but without her powers all it really does is just twitch slightly, which Blaze finds quite endearing. Blaze's tongue dances all across the sole of Belial's right foot. Between her toes, beneath her toes, pulling each toe into her mouth and sucking and kissing it, no part of Belial's foot escapes attention. Blaze rubs her legs together while she licks and kisses Belial's foot. She begins feeling some warm tingly feeling in her belly, but she ignores it and continues her half-tickling half-worship of Belial's foot. She stops and catches her breath, switching to Belial's left foot. Belial is crying and laughing helplessly, unable to really do anything else. The smallest…most discrete portion of her mind is enjoying Blaze's worship. But that small port is completely overwhelmed by the outright torture Blaze is causing by tickling her most ticklish of spots. The warm feeling in Blaze's belly continues to build up. She continues rubbing her legs together, still trying to ignore it. That task is becoming near impossible now. While she's sucking on one of Belial's toes she suddenly shudders and moans. She snaps out of her trance and pulls away from Belial's foot. Belial continues laughing and giggling even once the tickling has stopped. Just the feeling of Blaze's saliva slipping down her feet is enough to make her laugh hysterically. Blaze grabs her little sack and stands up stiffly, quickly leaving the room, blushing deep red.

Belial continues giggling and laughing, left alone in this dark room at the total mercy of anyone who should stumble upon her.

_The Girls' Room_

A dark presence slips under the door of the Powerpuff Girls room. It stops at the foot of the bed and takes form. The eyes of its jester mask glow bright blue.

"Rest well little girls. One arc in this struggle has ended and a new one has begun." He laughs to himself, "I'm sure we'll have loads of fun, just you three and me!" Beelzebub fades away, his laugh lingering in the room…but not disturbing the still sleeping puffs.


	18. And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.  
****A/N: No real plot advancement in this chapter, but at the same time I think it's important enough to make into it's own chapter. I'll have an actual chapter ready soon.**

On a rock…floating in and endless void a tall figure sits alone on a couch. All light is vacant leaving this endless nothing basked in total darkness. The figure is hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees. His face is buried in his claws and he makes no sound as he silently sits in the darkness. He lifts his head and stares into the blank TV screen. As if on a mental command it comes on, showing Belial sitting in the dark room where she'd just recently been tortured to tears at the hands of Blitz, Blood, and Blaze. He watches her softly cry to herself, her face still flushed from crying and from embarrassment. Him's glowing yellow-green eyes reflect his "oldest" daughters shame and sadness. He can just barely hear Belial whispering under her breath. He knows exactly what she is saying…she's begging him to show up and save her, to get her out of Hell and home where she's safe. Him lowers his head and stares at the floor, resting his chin on his claws. The TV switches to Bomb's room, where Bomb and Battle are lying under the blankets held tightly in each other's arms. Him lets out a small sigh and the TV turns off, leaving him in total darkness once more.

Here he was, the second most powerful demon in the entire universe, sitting on his couch in the dark on the verge of crying. His oldest daughter had been captured and tortured…and all he had done was watch and feel more and more angry with himself. At the same time, he knew exactly why he hadn't immediately rushed to Belial's aid. His full power had been restored, Leviathan's hadn't. Him at this very moment was the most powerful being in the universe. He could probably beat Leviathan right now if he wanted to…but he didn't. He was scared, no terrified. Leviathan had always been the only thing in the entire universe that could make the almighty Malebolgia tremble in fear. Sure they were on the same level in terms of power, but Leviathan was stronger, Leviathan was deadlier, Leviathan was more ruthless. Leviathan was everything Him had tricked the citizens of Townsville and the Powerpuff Girls into believing **he** was, the evilest of evil…the cruelest of cruel. Leviathan was the stuff nightmares are made of, the embodiment of all the hatred in the universe. He was everything Malebolgia feared, everything Malebolgia wanted to be. And now Leviathan had his daughter, and he hadn't lifted a claw to save her.

Him's eyes shimmer with tears, threatening to spill over the edge. He buries his face in his claws, damning himself for being so weak. He could make the bravest men cower and tremble. He could make the strongest warriors beg for mercy. But whenever he even heard the name Leviathan, he wanted to crawl into a little hole and just cry himself to sleep for a few millennia. He finally loses it and begins sobbing into his claws.

"It's hopeless…I'll never be able to beat him. I should have never disagreed with him and started this war. It's been eons and it's still raging on. Only now instead of our soldiers, we're fighting through our daughters. No…not daughters…not to him. To Leviathan no life is worth saving, no life is worth cherishing…worth loving. They're all just pawns to him, he's the puppeteer and they're the puppets. What did they do to deserve this? It's between Leviathan and me, not them. Now he's got one of my little girls, and I'm too afraid of him to do anything to save her…" He cries helplessly. All of his eternity's worth of pain and shame he's held in crashes against the walls he'd built around his black heart and smashes them to the ground.

This is why he couldn't match up to Leviathan, why he couldn't be the evilest in the universe. He still had a heart…as much as he hated it. Then, that day when he'd watched Professor Utonium create the Powerpuff Girls…he'd come up with a plan to help in the war against Leviathan. He'd done the very same thing, only added a few things. That was the day all of his plans for conquering the universe crashed and blew away. That day he created his daughters (which incidentally was the very same day Leviathan created Blitz, Blaze, and Blood) and that day he realized he wasn't a merciless monster. He was demon, but he still had the heart of an angel. He couldn't tear it from his chest, he couldn't get rid of it, he couldn't make the love go away. Looking into his three little girls' eyes it just made that painful sensation he though he'd cast away eons ago come back full force. He still had his heart…and he loved his little girls more than he could ever hate Leviathan.

But some things never change. He terrorized the Powerpuff Girls, hoping to make them strong enough to help in the war against Leviathan. He had it all planned to the tee and his plans never failed. His daughters and the Powerpuff Girls would grow up and become stronger than any demon could ever be. Then he'd take control of the Powerpuffs and lead them against Leviathan. However, his plans never succeeded where Leviathan was involved. He always did something…was always one step ahead. This time Leviathan had sacrificed the Rowdyruff Boys (who Him had been planning on using as well) to create a body for The Jester to return to the mortal realm. Now he not only had Leviathan to worry about, but also Beelzebub. Him stares at his claws, his vision blurry from the tears. He drops his arms to his sides and lies back on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling and still crying.

"I've tried so hard…I've gotten so far…but in the end it doesn't even matter…" He weakly lifts his arm and flicks his wrist. An image of the Powerpuff Girls, still dead to the world in their bed appears on the TV. "I've put my trust in you…I've pushed as far as I can go…so for all of this there's only one thing you need to know…" The image on the TV zooms in on the girls, still lying dead to the world. Him puts his claw over his face as he begins sobbing once more.

_I've put my trust in you three…Sezu…Kisu…Delu…only you can stop Leviathan…_


	19. Thin Line Between Dreams and Memory

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

The sun slowly rises over the horizon as morning at last comes to the city of Townsville. It's warm rays creep through the window of the Powerpuff Girl's room, gently caressing their innocent, young faces and rousing them from their deep sleep. Almost in unison all three awaken, slowly sitting up in their nice warm bed. They rub their eyes, yawn, stretch, and generally try to wake themselves up completely. Together they shuffle to the bathroom to begin their usual morning routine. When they are finished in the bathroom, they return to their room and dress, now more awake than before. After dressing, the girls head downstairs to eat breakfast, still in silence.

When they sit down at the table with their breakfast the girls continue in silence, not even noticing that they are up long before the Professor. Finally after too long, Bubbles decides to break the eerie silence.

"Blossom…Buttercup…did you have a dream about when we were goddesses?" Blossom and Buttercup stop eating and look at each other. They look at Bubbles and nod.

"Yeah I did. We were all lying in this big field-" begins Blossom

"And it was like totally the coolest place ever-" continues Buttercup

"And Glyja was there and we got into a tickle fight and he said something about 'you have to lose before you can win'…I think" finishes Bubbles. Blossom nods and looks down at her cereal.

"Yeah…that was confusing…what did he mean by that?" Bubbles and Buttercup shrug. Neither of them have the faintest idea either.

"I dunno…maybe it was just too deep for us to understand? Or maybe it didn't mean anything at all or something?" Blossom and Bubbles don't reply to Buttercup, but both are thinking the same thing. The three finish their breakfast in the same silence they began in, before grabbing their backpacks and heading off for school. The clock on the stove that had been blinking 7:30 a.m. suddenly changes, now reading 5:23 a.m.

The girls fly through the fairly dark skies, almost as if in a trance. Before they reach school; however, they hear a cry from the park. They look at each other, then fly off toward the park which still has a few craters from their fight with Glyja just a few days ago. They land in the park and begin looking around for the cry they'd heard. Buttercup stops in front of the swing set, taking a step back. Glyja is sitting on the swing, playing his ocarina. Bubbles and Blossom join Buttercup, staring at Glyja. Before any of them can find their voices, everything around them seems to change…

"Girls? Is something wrong? You just kinda zoned out for a second," chuckles a warm, loving voice. Sezu, Kisu, and Delu shake themselves from their trance-like states and grin at Glyja, all three blushing with slight embarrassment.

"Sorry about that Glyja, you know how much we get into your songs," Glyja grins and hops out of the tree he had been sitting in. He hands Kisu Hyperion, grinning still.

"Well maybe we should get the blood flowin', eh? Come on Kisu, I'll take you on!" Kisu grips Hyperion and grins back at Glyja, before lunging at him. Glyja pulls out Requiem and the two begin their little sparring match. Sezu and Delu sit down on the grass and giggle while they watch Kisu and Glyja play around. Delu leans against Sezu, resting her head on her shoulder. Sezu puts her arm around Delu and hugs her close lovingly.

"So who'd you think'll win?" ask Sezu. Delu smiles and stares at the ground. She touches a spot on the ground and instantly the most beautiful flower imaginable grows from that spot. It looks like a rose, but it has no thorns. Its petals begin light blue in the center, become green halfway, and finally become pink on the tips. Sezu looks down at Delu's creation and smiles. "Hey cool! You haven't made one like that before," Delu blushes just slightly and grins at Sezu.

"Yeah, I felt like making something different this time. And to the other thing, Kisu can beat him if she actually tries. But you know if Glyja starts losing he'll just tickle her until she gives up," Sezu giggles and ruffles Delu's hair.

"I think you've got Glyja confused with you or me dear sister. I don't think he's ever tickled one of us," Delu think about this for a few moments, then blushes and grins when she realizes Sezu is right.

"Oh yeah, I never noticed that. I wonder why though? With those four arms of his he'd be awesome at it!" Sezu giggles again and thinks about this, grinning like Delu after a few moments.

"Yeah he would! It'd be so fun to be tickled by someone with four arms. Though I guess I have been before with all the times you and Kisu have ganged up on me," she giggles again and hugs Delu, "But we've all had our turn with that. It was fun right?" Delu hugs Sezu back.

"Oh yeah! Totally! I just wish Glyja would play those kinds of games with us once in a while." Sezu nods and the two go back to watching Kisu and Glyja fight. Glyja knocks Hyperion away from Kisu, who quickly blasts him with a large fireball. Glyja lies on the ground with his eyes swirling and a goofy look on his face. Kisu giggles nervously and scratches her head.

"Sorry Glyja, I guess I got carried away," Glyja quickly jumps to his feet and tries to recover what little remains of his dignity.

"It's okay Kisu, it's all in good fun right? If it were an actual fight, we both know I wouldn't be in this form and I wouldn't let you catch me off guard like that," Kisu giggles and picks up Hyperion.

"Oh please Glyja. If it was a real fight I'd have vaporized you by now," Glyja grins and puts one of his arms around her shoulders as they walk back to the other two.

"You underestimate me sis," Kisu blows a raspberry at him.

"Nuh uh! 'Sides if it was a real fight Sezu and Delu would be helping me and you KNOW we could easily whoop your hiney together," Glyja smiles and sweatdrops.

"Let's just be glad it's not a real fight," Kisu giggles and plops down on Sezu's lap, making Sezu jump in surprise.

"Didya miss me?" asks Kisu. Sezu grins and tickles her sides making her jump and giggle uncontrollably.

"Of course we missed you Kisu." Delu grins and grabs Kisu's ankle, then starts tickling her foot. Kisu shrieks and laughs, but doesn't struggle or fight to get away from her sisters. Glyja kind of half-grins and returns to his perch in the tree. He takes out his ocarina and begins playing it while Delu and Sezu continue tickling Kisu, who happily remains on Sezu's lap letting her sisters tickle her.

After nearly twenty minutes of this Sezu and Delu stop tickling Kisu. Kisu pouts, but slides off Sezu's lap, cuddling against her side. Sezu hugs Kisu and kisses her on top of her head. Delu cuddles against Sezu's other side and the three lie back in the grass, listening to the amazing music Glyja plays for them. They look around and notice something not quite right…

"Powerpuff Girls? Are you okay? I was just walking through the park and saw you lying her on the ground…is something wrong?" Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup sit up and look around. They are lying in Townsville Park, with a concerned Talking Dog sitting beside them.

"No we're fine…must've just fell asleep or something." The girls stand up and quickly fly off before Talking Dog can resume talking as he is prone to do being that he is a talking dog and if you were a talking dog you'd probably talk a lot too because, well you know dogs have a lot of things on their minds so I suppose a talking dog would be willing to fill you in on everything. As the girls fly back towards school, they pass by the clock tower. When they stop to check it, it reads 7:50 a.m. that gets the girls hurrying back towards school. After the girls have passed, it changes…now reading only 5:54 a.m.


	20. Zyu!

**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

As the girls fly through the skies, their eyes remain distant and glazed. Whatever it is that has them in this state, they can't resist it. Bubbles suddenly stops and looks out over the horizon at the ocean. Her sisters notice this and fly back to her. They suddenly hear something faint in the distance, and head off toward the coastline to see if a monster is closing in on Townsville. The girls stop on the beach and walk around looking for any sign of danger. While she's walking along Blossom suddenly hears a very familiar little voice.

"Zyuuu!" Blossom looks over her should and sees a little white fox-like creature. It stares up at her with its violet eyes, before happily running up to her and rubbing against her leg like a cat. "Zyuuu!" Blossom leans down and pets the little fox-thing, smiling happily.

"Zenryoko! Where have you been?" Sezu picks up the Angel Fox, and hugs it lovingly. The fox, Zenryoko, purrs and rubs against Sezu.

"Zyu!" Kisu looks up from her pad of paper and giggles at Sezu and Zenryoko.

"You two are so cute," Sezu giggles and sits down next to Kisu on the riverbank, letting her feet dangle in the warm water of the river. Delu surfaces and takes a deep breath. She floats on her back and poses with a goofy grin on her face. Kisu giggles and begins drawing Delu into her sketch of the river. Sezu pets Zenryoko, who wraps her long cat-like tail around Sezu's arm. Sezu giggles when Zenryoko begins rubbing her arm with her fuzzy tail.

"Cut it out Zyu, that tickles!" Zenryoko purrs and begins licking Sezu's cheek. Sezu giggles more and lies back with Zenryoko on her chest. Zenryoko curls up and purrs while Sezu pets her. Kisu finishes her drawing of Delu and smiles at her. Delu grins and swims up to the riverbank, resting her chin on her arms and watching Sezu and Zenryoko. Zenryoko yawns and stands up, walking off of Sezu. Sezu sits up and watches Zenryoko stare at a butterfly. The three girls giggle at Zenryoko, who tries to pounce on the poor butterfly.

"Zenryoko is so cute, I wonder where Glyja found her?" asks Delu. Sezu shrugs and picks Zenryoko up, making her jump. Zenryoko rolls over so she's lying in Sezu's arm and purrs. Sezu giggles and tickles Zenryoko's stomach, making her squirm and make a noise that sounds like a squeaky giggle. Sezu smiles and hugs Zenryoko. She sits back down on the riverbank, and holds her little angel fox.

"Who cares where Glyja found her? Zyu's the best pet in the whole world. " says Sezu. Delu nods and goes back to swimming happily. Kisu sets her pad of paper down and dives in the river with Delu. Delu suddenly surfaces and squeals before breaking out into hysterical giggles. Kisu grins and giggles along with her while she tickles Delu's super-sensitive sides. Sezu giggles and watches Delu playfully thrash against Kisu, who holds onto her and continues tickling her. Sezu sets Zenryoko down and also dives in. She begins tickling Delu's sides as well, only from the front. Delu just lies back against Kisu and laughs hysterically while her sisters tickle her.

"Zyu!" Blossom and Bubbles stop tickling Buttercup and look up. Buttercup calms down after a few minutes. The three look around and see that they are in the ocean. They walk out onto the beach and sit down, wringing out their hair and clothes. Blossom feels something furry rub against her arm and looks down to see Zenryoko sitting next to her. "Zyu!" Blossom smiles and pets Zenryoko, who doesn't mind the wetness at all. The girls use their powers to dry themselves quickly. They just sit their staring out over the horizon, while Blossom pets Zenryoko. Blossom picks up Zenryoko and the three quickly fly back into the air, after retrieving their backpack, and head back on their way toward school. While they are flying Blossom suddenly realizes she is holding Zenryoko.

"Oh no! I need to take Zenryoko somewhere…I can't take her to school with me!" Zenryoko rubs against Blossom and purrs. Blossom giggles and hugs Zenryoko.

"We can drop her off at home maybe…we'll have to really talk Dad into letting us keep her…but at least she'll be safe," says Buttercup. Blossom nods and together the three fly back home. When they pass by the clock tower, it reads 7:55 a.m. When they are gone it changes to 6:00 a.m.

Zenryoko jumps out of Blossom's arms when the girls reach their house and runs around back to the backyard. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup follow Zenryoko, all of them still a little out of it.

Sezu runs up to Glyja who is holding his arms behind his back with an impish grin on his face. Kisu and Delu watch from nearby; Kisu stops sketching her picture of Delu who has created a tiny Bonsai Tree. Sezu stands up her tiptoes and tries to see around Glyja. Glyja just grins and takes a step back.

"Come on Glyja! What did you get meeee?" Glyja scratches his chin with one hand, keeping the other three behind his back.

"Well…let's just say this is a little gift from your Aunt Artemis. She found it while she was out hunting and though she was too cute to kill." Glyja holds out a small little snow white fox, with a long cat-like tail. Sezu squeals and takes the cute little fox from him, hugging it lovingly. The fox looks up at Sezu, who smiles back at her. The little fox slowly leans forward and gently licks Sezu's cheek, making her giggle.

"Thanks Glyja! She's perfect! What is she?" Glyja scratches the little fox's ears, making her purr.

"Artemis said it's the last surviving Angel Fox. These little cuties have the power to bring out the hidden full potential. This little beauty could probably make you three, heck, could make ME a hundred-thousand times stronger," Sezu hugs the angel fox and kisses her on the head.

"Awesome! OOH! I know what I'll call you!" she holds up the angel fox and looks at her, "I'll call you Zenryoko!" The angel fox seems to smile and purr.

"Zyu!"

Blossom catches Zenryoko and lifts her up.

"Don't run off like that again, okay Zyu?" Zenryoko purrs and rubs against Blossom. Blossom giggles. Blossom floats up to the window to their room and tries to put Zenryoko in their room. Zenryoko however absolutely refuses to leave Blossom's arms. Blossom finally gives up when she looks at her clock and sees how they are about to be late for school. She floats down to Bubbles and Buttercup.

"I'll just keep her in my backpack or something…she doesn't want to leave me," Bubbles and Buttercup nod, and together the girls begin their final trek to school. A pair of bright green-yellow eyes appears in the shadows in the girls' room. The eyes fade away, as the sound of the Professor waking up becomes the only sound in the quiet house. The clock in the girls' room now reads 6:05 a.m. A dark laugh rings out across Townsville, completely unheard by anyone not listening for it.


	21. Union Against A Greater Evil

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

The girls fly through the air in silence. The only sound that breaks this eerie quiet is Zenryoko's purring as she snuggles in Blossom's arms. Zenryoko looks up at Blossom and whimpers, more so when her owner doesn't acknowledge her. Zenryoko can easily tell there is something not quite right; something is about to happen. Something that would change her owner and her sisters' lives forever. Zenryoko whimpers again and rubs against Blossom comfortingly. Blossom hugs her tightly, completely aware of the sudden fear she can feel building in her but confused about why it's there. Nothing had happen this morning that could be qualified as bad. Heck, finding Zenryoko had made this one of the best days ever so far. But at the same time, as Pokey Oaks Elementary School comes into view, that fear becomes stronger.

The girls land in the playground for some reason. Something had called them hear, something that their young minds, no matter how advanced they were due to the Chemical X or their deity lineage, could comprehend. They walk through the empty playground, once more in the near trance-like state they'd been in the entire morning. Zenryoko whimpers more and snuggles against Blossom more, feeling the fear her owner is giving off. Blossom, now shivering, hugs Zenryoko close. A soft breeze blows by.

Sezu sits down against a sakura tree, hugging Zenryoko and smiling at her. Zenryoko looks up at her with her big violet eyes and purrs as she snuggles in Sezu's arms. Kisu and Delu run by, laughing while Delu tries to catch Kisu to tag her. But try as she might, the sky goddess always remains just out of Delu's reach. Kisu shrieks and suddenly comes to a complete stop, swinging her arms to keep her balance so she doesn't fall in the river in front of her. Her efforts are in vain; however, since Delu simply tackles her moments later. The two crash into the river, sending up a good-sized splash. Sezu begins giggling hysterically at her sisters' antics. Delu scrambles out of the river, blowing a raspberry at Kisu, who climbs out fuming. Kisu shakes herself out and takes off after Delu. Sezu begins giggling more, especially at the funny faces Delu makes at Kisu while she's chasing her. Kisu speeds up and tackles Delu, and the two begin rolling around on the ground trying to pin the other. Sezu is now laughing out loud at them and Zenryoko is also watching in amusement.

Delu manages to pin Kisu, who leans up and whispers something to her. Delu giggles and lets Kisu up. They walk over to their sister and sit down on either side of her. Kisu pets Zenryoko, who moves from Sezu's lap to hers. Kisu giggles when Zenryoko licks her cheek and whispers something to the little angel fox. Zenryoko looks up at her, with a curious look in her eyes.

"Zyu?" Kisu nods. Zenryoko purrs and rubs against Kisu. "Zyuuu!" Zenryoko hops from Kisu's lap back to Sezu's lap and rubs against her owner. Sezu smiles and pets Zenryoko. Zenryoko begins rubbing her tail up and down Sezu's side, making Sezu squeal and giggle uncontrollably.

"Zyu! That tickles!" Zenryoko purrs and lies down on Sezu's lap, still tickling her stomach and ribs with her tail. Sezu giggles and leans back against the tree. Kisu and Delu, almost in unison, lie down and begin tickling her feet, which makes her shriek and begin laughing hysterically. Kisu plays with Sezu's toes, tickling around them, between them, and of course tickling each toe itself. Delu runs her fingers up and down the sole of Sezu's foot, tickling slowly going up and quickly going down. Sezu is blushing light pink from the forced laughter, while remaining seated and still while her sisters and her pet tickle her. Zenryoko seems to have taken an almost instant liking to this game, now tickling Sezu's legs, behind her knees, her stomach, her armpits, and her ribs with her tail gently and slowly. Sezu squeals and laughs helplessly against the powerful sensations of the tickling.

Almost as quickly as it began their game ends. Kisu and Delu look up, Sezu calms herself down and also looks in the same direction. Zenryoko hops off Sezu's lap, standing in front of the three girls protectively and growling…though her growl is far more adorable than it is intimidating. They three little goddesses stand up, all three shaking with fear and ready to throw up in disgust. Glyja appears in front of them, holding Hyperion, Atma, Requiem, and Guradia. Delu finds her voice first, and asks the question they are all thinking.

"G-G-G-G-lyja…what is that?" she says in a soft, trembling voice. Glyja's eyes are narrowed. He glows, and a black and white flame erupts around him. In a brilliant flash gone is the weak body of Glyja, now there remains only Glyjametsu. The thing standing nearly forty feet away is slightly shorter than Glyjametsu. Its skin is pale, cold, and clammy, like that of a corpse. The skin on its chest is torn open and split in several places, revealing it's inner muscles and its black heart. Its legs are lanky and thin, and its feet have two long talons on the front and a single talon on the heel. Its arms are massive and long; nearly reaching it's ankles. It's taloned hands open and close as black lightning crackles around the entire creature. Its head almost resembles that of a human. The teeth are jagged; the face is solid white, and the bottom jaw is about six inches long. Its lips are curved in a never-ending grin of malice. Its cheeks have red dots on the end of its lips. Its eyes are hollow and resemble eyeholes. It has a long black mane that is red at the roots. Its voice is low, raspy, and demonic in every way imaginable.

"Glyjametsu. I never dreamed I'd have the honor of tearing the mighty god of death and rebirth apart." Says the monster, laughing evilly. Glyjametsu doesn't waste any time with pleasantries he simply flies at this monster. The monster, the infamous Jester of the Burning Hells, leaps high into the air. He exhales a huge black, buzzing cloud. The girls realize what that cloud is and are even more disgusted by the monster. Glyjametsu swings Hyperion, sending a wave of fire at the cloud of insects to incinerate them. The Jester lands and flies at Glyjametsu, beginning a furious assault with his mighty talons, which drip with his own venomous blood. Glyjametsu goes on the defensive, blocking and dodging each of the swings.

The Jester exhales another cloud of insects. These ram into Glyjametsu and throw him backward, biting and tearing at his skin. He burns them away with Hyperion again, then swings Atma sending a wave of thorny vines at The Jester. They tear through the Jester's clammy skin, making him snarl in pain. The Jester swings his arms and waves of insects devour the vines. He lunges at Glyjametsu and begins another assault, more furious than the last. Glyjametsu is hit several times before finally being able to shift into the offensive. He attacks the Jester with all four swords, slicing, slashing, dicing, tearing, and smashing into the Lord of Flies.

The Jester smacks Glyjametsu away and gathers black energy from the air around him. He fires it at Glyjametsu, who uses Guradia's power to open a hole in time and space. The energy flies through the hole and fires from a new one beside the Jester, hitting him with all of its force. The Jester and Glyjametsu quickly jump to their feet, before charging one another again. Glyjametsu immediately goes on the offensive, attacking the Jester with all four swords. The Jester also goes on the offensive, dodging Glyjametsu's swords while swinging and slashing at him at the same time. The two slam into each other, driving the other backward. The Jester gathers energy and fires a beam of black energy from his mouth at Glyjametsu. Glyjametsu slows time around the beam with Guradia, then rushes at the Jester, swinging Requiem and sending a crescent of death energy at him. The Jester dodges and swings his arms sending two waves of black energy back at Glyjametsu. Glyjametsu rolls out of the way and swings Atma, then Hyperion. Waves of vines erupt from the ground and wrap around the Jester, while giant icicles from Hyperion shoot through him. He tears himself free from the vines; blood pouring from his wounds but not slowing him down in the least.

The Jester laughs and raises his hand. Waves upon waves of black insects fly at Glyjametsu. They blind him, tear into his skin, and bite him. He looks for a chance to destroy them, but they never stop coming. He keeps two of his arms over his face to keep the insects from eating his eyes out. Glyjametsu swings Hyperion, sending all of the insects up in flames. Glyjametsu then uses this time to charge at the Jester, swings at him with Requiem. A wave of black erupts from the ground, slicing into the Jester's chest. The Jester falls backward, growling while more of his venomous blood pours to the ground. The Jester swings his arms, sending beams of black light from the ground, slamming into Glyjametsu repeatedly. Glyjametsu's aura appears around him, as he yells in pain from the endless beams of black. He raises his swords above them. A bright flash of light fills all of Paradise. He is now holding a single colossus of a sword. He brings it down hard and fast. The Jester barely avoids it, now breathing in raspy gasps. He hadn't expected this kind of power from Glyjametsu. Glyjametsu swings the sword again, this time far to fast for the Jester to dodge. Time slows down for the Jester. The sword slices through the Jester, beams of black, blue, red, and green shooting from his body. There is a bright flash, and when it fades a jester mask falls to the ground where the Jester himself had been. Glyjametsu flashes, the swords turn to stone, and Glyja falls to the ground barely conscious.

Sezu, Delu, Kisu, and Zenryoko run up to Glyja, all of them fearing the worst.

"Glyja! Glyja are you okay?" asks Sezu. Glyja doesn't have enough time to respond. A beam of red energy crashes down on Paradise. The skies turn black; the ground becomes dry and cracked. The clouds turn red. The wind begins howling fiercely. A black mist swirls down from the skies, and a laugh filled with all of the malice and evil in the universe rings out across Paradise. The girls all look up, filled with fear, consuming and absolute fear. The mist solidifies, becoming the Lord of Darkness, the second end. He was a colossal monster, bigger than anything the girls had ever seen. His massive arms are crossed, his sharp talons digging into his own flesh. His knees are bent to help support his massive frame. His huge devil wings stretched out and filled the skies. His massive chest is devoid of hair. His head is like that of a demonic wolf, with sharp fangs each as big as Glyjametsu. He has a long, black mane surrounding his face, and his eyes…those terrible red eyes burn with all of the hatred, all of the evil in the universe.

The power these three little goddesses hold doesn't stop the fear. It doesn't take away the cold feeling of terror coursing through ever vein in their bodies. Zenryoko stands in front of the girls protectively, but she doesn't growl. No she whimpers in fear, taking a step back, but quickly stepping forward again. This terror does nothing to weaken the love and devotion she feels for the three supreme goddesses. The Lord of Darkness lowers his head and grins at them.

"Well little girls, I must say I'm impressed with your brother. I never expected him to destroy my greatest minion. But he served his purpose. Now I will destroy all of Paradise and create and endless Hell throughout all of existence. I'll begin with you three!" He brings his massive fist down hard. Sezu grabs Glyja, while Kisu grabs Zenryoko. They take off, moving as fast as they can to avoid the Lord of Darkness's fist. They barely avoid it, but continue flying. They set Glyja down miles from the Lord of Darkness. The pink jewel on Zenryoko's forehead begins glowing. Three beams shoot out hitting the three goddesses. They all feel impossible power flowing through them, giving them the strength to stand up to the Lord of Darkness. Zenryoko whimpers and rubs against Sezu's leg. Sezu picks her up and kisses her on the head. The three girls quickly hug and kiss one another, before taking off to stop the Lord of Darkness. They fly as fast as they can at the monster, which has taken to firing beams of searing black energy from his eyes at them.

The girls dodge; twist, and turn splitting up to avoid his assault. Sezu powers up her Light Speed attack, vanishing and crashing into the Lord of Darkness. He doesn't even move from her attack and slaps him hand against his chest to crush her. Luckily Sezu moves out of the way. Kisu fires a raging burst of fire at the Lord of Darkness, her mighty FireStorm. The Lord of Darkness swats it aside, then backhands Delu away from him. Delu crashes into the ground, growling in pain. She stands up snarling and the area around her explodes. Shockwaves and jagged spires of rock fly at the Lord of Darkness. Her World Shatter has no effect on him; however, he simply puts up his hand and blocks all of it. Sezu and Kisu power up and fire at the Lord of Darkness. The glowing space energy of Sezu's Cosmic Force and the crackling power of Kisu's Dancing Thunder hit the Lord of Darkness hard in the chest. He simply laughs and slams them into the ground. He fires his eyebeams at Delu, who dodges and fires raging roots and vines covered in thorns at the monster with her Floraflex power. A mighty explosion and a dome of energy forces the Lord of Darkness's hand off of Sezu and Kisu as Sezu uses her SuperNova attack. Kisu fires endless waves of icicles and frozen wind at the Lord of Darkness with her Crystalline Arctic attack. The Lord of Darkness simply raises his hands and a wall of fire surrounds him, shielding him from Kisu and Delu's attacks.

Sezu's SuperNova gives in to the force of the Lord of Darkness's hand, but using her Light Speed she is able to get herself and Kisu out of the way. The Lord of Darkness holds up one hand and fires a massive ball of fire, followed by a beam of black energy at the three goddesses. The goddesses dodge the attacks, once more thanks to Sezu's Light Speed. Delu powers up and lets lose a typhoon of burning and freezing waters at the Lord of Darkness with her Rising Seas. Kisu fires another Dancing Thunder at the monster, hoping to play off Delu's attack. The Lord of Darkness is hit by both attacks hard. The two stop firing, expecting to have caused some damage. The Lord of Darkness lifts his head and howls with evil laughter. The girls gape in fear. Everything they've thrown at him he's simply taken without even being harmed by it.

Delu screams and all of Paradise begins trembling. The ground beneath them splits and explodes, pillars of rock shooting into the air then falling. The ground beneath the Lord of Darkness begins glowing. Plants, vines, thorns, roots, stones, spires, shockwaves, burning water, freezing water, all of them fly at the Lord of Darkness without relenting. Delu's frustrated scream grows in volume and more and more attacks fly at the Lord of Darkness. He puts his arms up to help defend against this endless assault. Delu's ultimate power, her Terra Force, continues to attack him endlessly. Kisu begins crying, and also screams. The skies tremble and shake. Balls of fire, streams of fire, icicles, frozen wind, bursts of thunder, everything Kisu has the power to command falls from the sky and attacks the Lord of Darkness. Kisu's Falling Skies and Delu's Terra Force continue to assault the monster. Sezu trembles in fear. All of this is hitting the Lord of Darkness without end, and yet he still continues to grin and bare it. The attacks aren't even piercing his skin. It may be hurting him, but clearly not even close to enough to make a difference. Glyja is barely conscious…they are the only hope the Omniverse has of surviving the Lord of Darkness's plan. She begins crying, as a feeling of helplessness fills her. The fate of the Omniverse rests on their shoulders. This kind of responsibility is too much for her to bear. Aside from fun little sparring matches with Glyja, they'd never had to actually fight or do anything strenuous. Now here they are, fighting against the second end himself. Sezu begins crying hysterically, breaking under the pressure. She knows her sisters feel the same way; they feel just as helpless as she does. That's why they were using their forbidden powers. Sezu holds her head, sobbing and crying uncontrollably. Then just like her sisters, she snaps and screams. Meteors, comets, stars, supernovas, cosmic energy, solar energy, lunar energy, planets all of them fly from space and attack the Lord of Darkness. Her StarBorn Nebula joins her sisters' attacks. The Lord of Darkness's grin fades ever so slightly. The combined force of the three forbidden powers is beginning to take its toll on him.

The Lord of Darkness thrusts out his hands, sending a shockwave of black. The shockwave knocks Sezu, Kisu, and Delu backward, sending them into the ground. Their ultimate attacks combined did little but piss off the Lord of Darkness. The Lord of Darkness stands up straight and raises his hand above him. He didn't show it, but he was afraid of them. He was afraid of these three little girls. Together, they controlled everything that made up reality. The sky, the earth, space and time; only Glyjametsu held as much importance. They weren't properly trained to use their powers, their unlimited potential. But if he pushed them too far, they could tear all of reality apart without trying to. Being what he was, Leviathan couldn't simply be blinked out of reality, but if reality was torn apart, he would simply float in the chaotic remains for all eternity. That is why he has to end it now, once and for all. The Lord of Darkness creates a black ball above him, the size of a small planet. He laughs maniacally and it begins growing. In just moments it has grown larger than Jupiter. It continues to grow without end, surpassing Sol in size.

The goddesses weakly sit up; they are beaten and broken. Kisu begins crying hysterically, falling against Sezu's side. Delu and Sezu break almost moments later. Delu leans against Sezu, and the three simply sit there, crying helplessly. The Lord of Darkness's attack continues growing, its gravitational pull tearing trees and chunks of the ground out of Paradise and pulling them into it. Glyja, now just conscious enough to see what's going on, watches his sisters cry in the face of the end. He is helpless to save them this time. He can't speak, he can't move, he's useless to them. He sees Zenryoko, who is crying as helplessly as the three girls she'd tried to help. Glyja lifts an arm…only in his mind. He gently rubs Zenryoko's back with this mental arm, which catches Zenryoko's attention. The little angel fox runs up to him, licking his face. Glyja speaks in his mind to the devoted little creature. He needs only say two words to her.

"_Awaken…zenryoko…"_ Zenryoko nods and the jewel on her forehead begins glowing. The light shines over Glyja. He can feel his power rising, but his body is still useless. When all is finished, Glyja uses the last of his consciousness to do one last thing before giving in to his exhaustion. He finally passes out, leaving the fate of the universe in the hands of what could be his final act as the god of death and rebirth.

Sezu, Kisu, and Delu feel something in them change. They don't become any stronger; they aren't healed from the Lord of Darkness's attacks. But they feel a strange confidence. Glyja is still alive, and he's given them something…something to beat the Lord of Darkness. Maybe not today, maybe not in a million years, but one day they will be able to beat him. Some day…another side, another story…they will destroy the second end. They take each other's hands and stand up. The Lord of Darkness laughs and throws the ball, which is now impossibly huge, perhaps as large as the Milky Way Galaxy itself. The girls begin glowing…their glow becomes brighter and brighter. The ball crashes into the girls, but their light keeps it at bay. The Lord of Darkness pushes down on it with all of his strength, but still they don't falter. The glow surrounding them becomes blinding. And then there is a flash of light that covers all of Paradise.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup open their eyes and stare at the sky above them. They stay like that for a few minutes before sitting up. All of them can still feel that fear pumping through them as they faced the Lord of Darkness. They don't know what happened after that flash of light, but in their hearts they know it doesn't matter. They suddenly feel that cold chill in the air. In seconds they are to their feet and standing defensively. They hear a dark laugh and turn in the direction. Lying against the slide is a boy about their age wearing red body armor and black pants. He has hair that is red at the roots and becomes black as it goes outward. A jester mask, the eyeholes of which are burning bright blue, covers his face. He laughs evilly and stands up. He crosses his arms and just stands there for a few moments, taking in the sight before him.

"Sezu, Kisu, and Delu…my how the mighty have fallen. You're nothing compared to what you used to be." Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup all get ready for a fight. Beelzebub laughs and uncrosses his arms. "So you want to fight, eh? Well I can't turn down an offer from the supreme goddesses. Just promise you'll put up a better fight than Glyjametsu did." The girls growl, then gasp as the wind is forced out of them. Beelzebub lowers his fists and his knee then jerks his head to the side, sending them tumbling in that direction from some invisible force. Buttercup flips in mid air and flies at Beelzebub, throwing punches and kicks at him like lightning. Beelzebub turns and moves ever so slightly, avoiding all of her attacks with ease. He punches her in the stomach, knocking her into the air, then backflips and kicks her in the chin, sending her spiraling into the air. He curls up and spins again in midair, then slams his feet down on Bubbles' back driving her into the ground. When he does that he propels himself upward, upper cutting Blossom on his way up. When he reaches Buttercup, he spins and kicks her into the ground.

Buttercup stands up, growling at Beelzebub. She slams her hands together then thrusts them forward, sending a powerful shockwave at him. Beelzebub lifts his hand, dispelling the shockwave when it reaches him. Bubbles reaches Beelzebub and throws a punch at him. He leans back and avoids it. Bubbles pulls her arms back, now crackling with electricity and thrusts them forward sending a wave of lightning at Beelzebub. Beelzebub becomes slightly transparent, allowing the lighting to pass through him. Beelzebub solidifies and fires two beams of solid blue at Bubbles, sending her flying out of the air. Blossom puts her hands together, lightning crackling around them. She pulls her hands apart, pink lightning crackling between her fingers. A huge basketball sized energy ball appearing in her hands. She slams her hands together, and lifts them over her head. Pink energy explodes around her growing larger and larger with every passing second. Orange energy pours into her aura, cosmic energy.

"My Final Shinespark!" she flings her hands down and a burst of energy flying faster than anyone can keep up with flies at Beelzebub. He puts his hands up, the eyeholes burning brighter. The Final Shinespark curves upward suddenly. Blossom gapes at him, a lot of her energy burned away from that attack. Zenryoko suddenly jumps on Beelzebub's back and begins clawing and biting his neck. Beelzebub snarls in pain and flings Zenryoko away. Blossom catches Zenryoko, and holds her protectively. Zenryoko whimpers and snuggles fearfully into Blossom's arms. Beelzebub laughs and raises his hand, ready to blast them to Hell. Suddenly a red mist surrounds him and a powerful claw clamps down on his wrist. Beelzebub stares at the claw, beginning to tremble unconsciously. He looks a little to his left and stares into a pair of glowing green-yellow eyes. He trembles more looking at that horribly cruel little grin on the owner of the claw's face.

"Y…Y….you…wh-wh-" Him's grin darkens. He flings Beelzebub across the playground like a rag doll. Beelzebub crashes through the jungle gym, a slide, through the monkey bars, and finally rams into a swing and falls backward. Beelzebub climbs to his feet quickly. He is now shaking uncontrollably. He fires endless waves of black energy at Him. Him lifts his claw as he casually walks toward Beelzebub. With just a flick of his wrist all of the beams Beelzebub fired do a 180 and fly back at the demon. Beelzebub jumps into the air to avoid them. Him suddenly appears below him, grabs his ankle and smashes him through the swings. Him swings Beelzebub around again and slams him into the ground over and over again. Him throws him away, then fires a green energy beam at Beelzebub. It hits the demon and shatters his armor and tears into his skin. Beelzebub flies through the ground, digging a trench through the playground. He stands up, holding his chest in pain. Blood seeps between his fingers and down his chest. Him appears in front of Beelzebub and grabs him by his hair. Him lifts Beelzebub up and stares into his eyes. Him grins evilly, and fires his eyebeams at Beelzebub. Beelzebub yells in pain as his body begins tearing apart. His arms explode and become huge masses of muscles with cold dead skin. He tears free from Him's grip, his arms returning to normal, and quickly teleports away snarling.

"Oh what fun, I can't remember the last time I've had such fun. I'll have to see Beelzebub again sometime soon," says Him in his whimsical voice. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup all stand on their guard, but considering how easily Him just tore this Beelzebub guy apart…the odds of winning are moo. Him turns around and waves his claw at them in a friendly gesture. The girls relax, Zenryoko included. Him walks up to them, his claws behind his back.

"Hello girls, it's been quite a while hasn't it?" The girls nod, but keep their mouths shut. Him chuckles and grins, "You may be wondering why I'm here saving you. Well you see…" he suddenly becomes serious. "As I'm sure you know by now, your brother has filled you in on who I am and who Leviathan is," the girls nod, "You see…Leviathan has stolen one of my dear daughters. I'm sure you've all met Belial," All three girls expressions harden, "…I know you'll probably turn down my offer…but I've come here to ask for your help…" The girls' expressions go blank. Him gets down on his knees and takes there hands in his claws, "Please…you have to help me…as powerful as I am I can't beat him. I can't beat Leviathan." His eyes begin watering, "I need your help. You've beaten him before girls and you can beat him again. I promise I'll do everything I can to help you, please I just want my little girl to be safe." Him shakes his head and stands up, stilling holding their hands. "I know I'm evil, and I'll probably attempt to do what Leviathan is doing now as soon as he is dead. But please…for now let's put that behind us and unite against a greater evil." Normally the girls would huddle up and talk to each other about it before deciding. This time there is no hesitation.

"Alright…" says Bubbles

"We'll help you…" says Buttercup

"Destroy Leviathan." Finishes Blossom.


	22. The Woes Of Unrequited Love

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.  
****A/N: If this story were to have an actual second genre, at this point it would probably be romance. You'll see why, but don't expect happy endings yet.**

Belial sniffles. Just moments ago Blitz and Blood had decided to pay a visit with some of their friends. So for the last hour or so she'd been at the mercy of about ten girls intent on making her suffer…things had definitely been shitty since she'd let herself get captured. She rarely had time like this to rest and think to herself. Blitz and Blood made it a point to leave the door wide open so everyone can observe the completely defenseless girl within. So every three to five minutes or so, someone would stumble across the room and have their way with Belial. Almost all of them had been past victims of hers, which made it all the more humiliating. But still there were hundreds (it seemed to Belial) who were just random demons. Male, female, it didn't matter. She began crying and begging the second someone walked into the room. Blitz and Blood must have a sign or something on the door. Everyone who came to "see" her knew exactly what to do to her, and where to do it. Her poor feet are still twitching. Luckily for her they are still in the dark about the most effective way to tickle her…at least so far. She really hopes Blaze doesn't tell them. She can't remember a time when she'd felt this pathetic. She hates it…being in control; making others beg for mercy was a thrill she can't get enough of. Now when she's the one begging for mercy, she realizes just what a monster she really is. Everything she'd done in her life is now coming back on her a hundred fold.

"Then it all crashes down…and you break your crown…and you point your finger and there's no one around…." She softly sings to herself in a shaky voice. Her throat is sore, her body aches…the way she feels really has no word to describe it short of shit. And even that's an understatement. Hell, that's the only word that can properly describe anything. It's where she is, it's what she's being put through…it's what she put others through. Belial hangs her head and begins crying, not from the non-stop tickling, or the helplessness of her situation. No, she's crying because she finally realizes just how horrible she is. She'd lived her life by dominating others and making them beg for mercy. Now after five long years as the queen of the world, everything's turned to shit. She thinks back to all the people she's done this too; all the other girls she's restrained and mercilessly tickled until they were near the point of insanity. All of that just makes the tears flow faster. She's a monster; she deserves all of this and more. But being the little girl that she is, she can't help wishing it would stop. She can't get rid of the selfish desire to get free and make Blitz, Blood, Blaze, all of them pay for this. Then of course, there's the side of her mind that is dominating her thoughts.

"Daddy…Daddy please help me…" At the moment, there's really nothing Belial wouldn't give for just a chance to curl up in the corner and cry for a few hours. Her arms are sore from being stretched high above her, and her legs are stiff from not moving. Her back is killing her too; it would be great to be able to walk around. But no…she's stuck in this damned chair. They just had to make material that her powers couldn't break. Not that it mattered, with the constant assault on her body and specifically her feet her powers were pretty much dead anyway. If she could just have maybe an hour alone she'd be strong enough to maybe start using her psychic powers to keep people away from her. But oh…she couldn't just die from dehydration or starve to death could she? Her dear uncle just had to give her a little gift. As long as she's in this chair, she doesn't need to eat, sleep, drink, even use the bathroom. Just another gift from dear uncle Leviathan; Thanks Unc next time just throw me in the damned lake of fire.

The door swings open and a group of giggling demons…probably Succubi from the look, enter. Belial's voice catches in her throat before she begins crying harder and begging them to let her go. Her please of course fall on deaf ears, as two Succubi take a place at her feet, a third sits on her ankles and stares hungrily at her toes, and the rest arrange themselves around her helpless body and begin their torture of the once proud Belial.

_Blaze's Room_

Blaze lies on her bed, alone in the dark. She is only wearing her thin, violet nightgown. Her eyes are distant, she barely moves as she stares at the wall of her room. She sighs and rolls over onto her back, creating a little flame in her hands and watching it dance around. It takes the form of two people dancing, then becomes more detailed, down to the smallest imaginable. She now has little fire replicas of herself and Belial dancing over her stomach. While they're dancing the fire Blaze leans up and kisses fire Belial, who wraps her arms tightly around the fire Blaze's waist and kisses her back. Blaze's eyes water and another soft sigh escapes her lips.

"I wish it was real…" she whispers to herself while the fire Blaze and Belial go back to dancing around above Blaze. Blaze rolls over onto her side and stares at the wall, her concentration still sharp enough for her little creations to keep dancing away happily. Ever since she met Belial in that warehouse that Belial had created with her powers, Blaze had been thinking about the pink-haired beauty non-stop. She had memorized every intricate detail of Belial's flawless appearance, from her upside-down cross necklace to her shoe size. Blaze is very much obsessed with Belial. Almost every night she finds herself dreaming about Belial. Sometimes the dreams involve tickling and sometimes they don't, but when she wakes up, Blaze always finds herself wanting Belial more and more.

Ever since she tickled Belial she hasn't left her room. Part of her is afraid to leave…what happened to her while she was tickling Belial was amazing…but it scared her for some reason. She really didn't know why, but she felt like she did something bad when that happened. To confuse her even more, it had happened again that night when she'd gone to bed. She was dreaming of Belial like usual. Belial had been tickling her, kissing her every now and then as well. Somewhere along the line Blaze had woken up, and it had happened again. She stays in her room more than she used to now, just lying in bed like she is now and dreaming about being with Belial. She wants to go see her again, more to talk to her and tell her how she feels than to play with her. But what if that…whatever it was happens to her again while she's talking to Belial? That would be so embarrassing…so here she is, hiding in her room from the world.

Lately she'd been feeling so tired…probably from her lack of activity. Her eyelids feel like they way a ton at the moment. She finally relents and closes her eyes. After she falls asleep the little flame dancers fade away into nothing.

_Blaze's Dream_

Blaze opens her eyes and smiles happily at Belial, who is lying next to her. Belial's eyes are closed and she's wearing a small smile on her beautiful face. She is wearing a light pink nightgown that matches her hair perfectly and makes her look even more beautiful in Blaze's eyes. Blaze of course is still wearing her violet nightgown. Blaze snuggles closer to Belial, who yawns and little and opens her eyes. Belial smiles at Blaze and pulls her close. Blaze smiles with pure joy and snuggles in Belial's strong arms. Belial kisses the top of her head and nuzzles her. Blaze sighs happily and enjoys every moment of their innocent snuggling.

_Battle's Room_

Battle is sitting on the edge of her bed completely absorbed in the video game she's playing (the one she bought in Townsville). Well…not entirely absorbed. Every now and then her eyes drift over to her sister, who is tucked under her blankets and fast asleep. Bomb had suddenly come down with something while the two were sleeping, so Battle carried her in here so she could take care of her. Battle turns back to her game, but can't get into it. So she saves her progress and turns it off, before crawling up next to Bomb. She wraps her arm around Bomb's waist and lies next to her, playing with her black/red hair. Bomb moans slightly and rolls over, now facing Battle. Battle pulls back the covers and slips under them. She hugs Bomb, who relaxes more and begins cooing softly while she sleeps. Battle giggles half-heartedly and kisses Bomb on the cheek.

None of them had ever been sick before, but suddenly they all just started getting sick. First Belial, then Battle, and now Bomb. It happened to Battle after she had that weird dream. Something about a boy with a scary mask is all she remembers. That and singing, someone singing beautifully. Then it's all blank, just…blank. Battle cuddles with Bomb gently, so she can avoid waking her sick sister up. She stares at Bomb's sweaty, but still very pretty face. Battle feels a light blush work it's way to her face. It was weird the relationship the two had. In battle they were basically the perfect team. Off the battlefield though it was different. Battle never felt safer than when she was with Bomb. Bomb was the only person in the whole world she felt she could share anything with…except one thing.

Battle had always acknowledged that she found Bomb very attractive. Ever since they were little kids Battle had always told Bomb how pretty she was on many occasions. Bomb would just blush and giggle and tell Battle she is really pretty too. That always made Battle blush and disagree. Her heart always fluttered and she felt extremely happy whenever Bomb told her that, despite denying that it was true. She always knew that somewhere deep down she really, really liked Bomb. So she was always able to think up fun ways to try to show Bomb how she felt. These games of course, were goading Bomb into tickling her whenever the chance came up. Bomb, of course, always happily obliged sometimes more than Battle had expected.

Battles' warm smile fades, and her blush becomes darker from embarrassment. She wanted to just tell Bomb right out front what she meant to her, but she was afraid of how Bomb would react. Neither of them had ever been boy crazy, but still. Battle didn't want to ruin their perfect friendship. Bomb was her sister and Battle knows she'll do anything she can to make sure Bomb is happy. Even if it means never telling her how much she loves her.

_Blood's Room_

Blitz and Blood sit on the edge of Blood's bed, playing a video game accompanied with wild whoops and shouts of joy or frustration. Every now and then Blitz glances at Blood out of the corner of her eye. Blitz makes sure she only does this for a second or two and makes sure they are as far spread out as possible…she doesn't want Blood to catch her looking at her. Blitz mentally sighs and cries on the inside. On the outside she remains happy and into the violent game she and Blood are playing. To Blitz's knowledge of her sister (which is very extensive) Blood hated the thought of homosexuals. She'd brought that up tons of times against Blaze. So Blitz was forced to agree on the outside and die on the inside. There is no question in her mind, no second thoughts or anything. Blitz is madly in love with Blood, and Blood would hate her forever if Blitz says anything. So she's forced to live out the rest of her life…grinning and bearing the worst pain she'd ever felt in her entire life.

_A Dark Cathedral_

Beelzebub stares into the darkness, watching little screens floating in midair of Belial, Blaze, Bomb and Battle, Blitz and Blood, and finally Malebolgia and the Powerpuff Girls. How sad, it seems no one is happy anymore. Beelzebub tosses his head back and laughs psychotically at this thought. Oh the woes of unrequited love, it makes him laugh harder.


	23. Final Preparations

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

The girls walk alongside Him through the mysteriously deserted streets of Townsville. All three are silent, mulling over the memories they've recovered. Him hums a little tune and Zenryoko is purring in Blossom's arms. Him waves his claw and a red mist wraps around them, sending them to his home. They appear in Him's living room. He motions for the girls to take a seat on the couch, which they do. All of this is so surreal. Here they are sitting in the living room of their worst enemy…well second worst enemy apparently.

Him walks off the edge of the living room and appears in Battle's room. Bomb is sitting up, while Battle is lying on her stomach on the bed. The two are playing with some of Bomb's toys, which Battle eagerly retrieved for their game. Currently they were playing out a fight between a plushy of Mushu and Yoshi, providing sound effects as kids do while playing. Him chuckles, which catches their attention. Battle sits up and crosses her legs, both beaming up at Him.

"Hi Daddy! Where've you been?" Him sits down on the edge of the bed and ruffles Battle's hair.

"Oh where haven't I been sweetie. We have guests, and I'd like you two to join us in the living room." Battle and Bomb nod and follow him to the living room. Their jaws drop when they see the Powerpuff Girls sitting on the couch. Him motions toward the recliner, where Bomb and Battle quickly seat themselves. Bomb sits on Battle's lap, still partially asleep. Battle blushes lightly and wraps her arms around Bomb's waist, secretly enjoying the bliss of holding Bomb like this. Him paces back and forth in front of the five kids, Battle and Bomb throwing nervous glances at the Powerpuffs once in a while. Finally he clears his throat and stops pacing.

"Well, you girls already know so I'll just fill my daughters in. You see Belial has been captured and taken to Hell. I…saw the way they were treating her and I can't say it's pretty. Now I expected to have all of my daughters, you puffs, and the Rowdyruff Boys here when I decided it was time to open the gate to Hell and destroy Leviathan. As you can see, that isn't the case,"

"They kidnapped Belial!" asks Battle, more amazed than concerned for her "big" sister's well being. Bomb, still partially not all together from being sick, snorts and says what Battle is thinking at the moment.

"Good, let them keep her." The puffs gape at Bomb. They look back at Him, who is just as stunned as they are. Amazing…Him can concoct plans the stretch across thousands of years, and yet he is completely unaware of the civil unrest between his daughters.

"B-Bomb…what did you say?" asks Him in a soft voice. Bomb has realized that she messed up and made the mistake of thinking out loud. She looks at the ground; unable to meet Him's practically heartbroken stare.

"I…I said they can keep Belial. I don't want to save her." Battle hugs her sister; also avoiding Him's gaze.

"We hate her Daddy…" Battle says in a tiny voice. Him gulps, feeling his heart breaking. His daughters hated each other. Well not Bomb and Battle, they obviously got along like a house on fire. But they both hated Belial. Looking back…he can't recall anything that would make them hate her. Sure Belial had an overly dominating personality…and a thing for tickling other girls, but she'd never done anything worth hating her over had she? He falls back into a chair that has appeared behind him, taking in all of this. Apparently Belial HAD done something worth hating her over. He'd seen the cold looks in the puffs eyes when he told them she had been captured. Bomb and Battle both fidget nervously, afraid that they'd really hurt Him's feelings, or made him mad at them. Him waves his claw in a pointless gesture and decides to move on.

"That aside, you five are now the only one's capable of getting into Hell and beating Leviathan. The key to our victory is you," points at Zenryoko, who stares at him confused, "Zenryoko, I need you to awaken the past potential for all five of the girls. Then you will all be strong enough for this." Zenryoko yawns and nods, understanding. She hops off Blossom's lap and sits down in the middle of the floor, waiting for Him to finish. "Now, due to Leviathan's magic I can't use mine to simply teleport us into Hell. We must use the gate and work our way to the bottom where Leviathan will be waiting for us." Zenryoko leans back, the jewel on her head glowing.

"Zyuuu!" A pink light floods the room, releasing all of the latent power hidden within Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Bomb, and Battle. All five girls are stunned by this sudden power increase, but don't have time to gawk long. Him waves his claw and a burning red portal appears in the room. He stands up and motions toward it.

"Take this portal to reach Hell. Time is of the utmost importance now you must leave now! I will take a different path and get rid of Leviathan's generals." The girls stumble to their feet and one by one walk through the portal. Bomb and Battle both hug Him tightly.

"We're sorry Daddy."

"Yeah…" Him hugs them back and sighs.

"Don't worry…just hurry and stop Leviathan, I'll meet you at the black palace." They nod and head through the portal. Him waves his claw and the portal turns black. Then he too passes through it. Zenryoko watches the portal close and lowers her head, whimpering for their safety.

_Throne Room of Hell_

Leviathan leans back in his throne and watches Him and his little army enter Hell. He tosses his head back and laughs evilly. With a wave of his claw the vision is gone, and a black marble appears in Leviathan's claw. About that moment his three daughters enter the room. Blaze looks nervous like usual, Blood has her usual grin on her face and is happily discussing something with Blitz, who looks the same as usual. But no matter how well Blitz thinks she hides it, Leviathan sees right through her mask. He can see the burning want in her eyes when she looks at Blood. Blood is of course completely oblivious to Blitz's hidden feelings. They stop in front of him, and look up.

"What did you need us for Father?" Asks Blitz. Blood grins sadistically.

"Yeah we were just about to pay another visit to that sick freak Belial," Blaze winces at that comment, but it goes unnoticed by anyone, even Leviathan. Leviathan tosses the marble at them, Blitz catching it in one hand. Instantly black power shoots through her veins and pumps through her soul. She shudders and nearly falls to the ground, as all of her latent potential is unleashed. She stands up when it fades and stares at her hands. She hands the marble to Blood, who experiences the same rush, though she doesn't lose her footing. She grins and stares at the marble, before throwing it in Blaze's general direction. Blaze stumbles around trying to catch it, but instead ends up tripping and falling. Blitz and Blood laugh at her, which brings a fierce blush to Blaze's cheeks. She picks up the marble and a wave of pure power opens up in her. She lies on the ground until it runs its course and stands up. She goes to give the marble back to Leviathan, but he just waves her off. Blaze stares at it and shrugs.

"You see, now you have all of her amazing power unlocked. Malebolgia has sent the Powerpuff Girls as well as Bomb and Battle to destroy me. Your job is to destroy them, by any means necessary." Blitz and Blood grin and nod, turning around and leaving. Blaze nods half-heartedly and shuffles out of the throne room, heading straight for her room while her sisters make their way towards Belial's room to torture her for an hour or two.

Leviathan leans back in his throne and begins laughing once more. Beelzebub had gone to earth to gather SoulEnergy to become stronger. His super soldiers are in peak condition, and his brother's strongest warrior is broken and beaten. How he will enjoy the coming showdown. It is finally time to end this pathetic little game and move on to bigger plans.


	24. The Horrors of Hell

**Caught in the Crossfire**  
**By Kevin Larry Ivy  
****I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Battle, Bomb, Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles all appear on a floating red rock platform. Below them, filling this endless realm of pain and torment they've entered is a massive lake of fire, stretching further than the eye can see. They aren't in a cavern or anything…above them and in the horizon is nothing but darkness. They wander around the small platform, unable to find anyway to continue on foot.

"So what should we do?" Asks Bubbles. Battle looks over the edge, then falls backward with a scream when one of the souls in the lake reaches up for her. Bomb helps Battle, who is blushing fiercely, up. Buttercup rolls her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Duh, we fly dummy." Bubbles sticks her tongue out at Buttercup, who does the same in return. Blossom is oblivious to her sisters' raspberry war while she looks around across the vast lake of fire. Even with her super sight she can't see anything to tell them which way to continue. She sighs and turns around, sweatdropping when she sees Bubbles and Buttercup. Bomb and Battle are giggling at the two.

"Um…guys…I uh…think we have more important things to do right now," Bubbles and Buttercup stop and turn to Blossom.

"Which way should we go Blossom, flying is the only way we can continue," says Bomb. Blossom scratches her head and looks around again.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. There aren't any landmarks or any way to get back to this platform safely. If we wander too far we could get lost forever in here…and I don't know about you, but the idea of running out of steam and falling into the boiling soup bowl beneath us isn't very appealing to me," Bubbles, Buttercup, Bomb, and Battle all exchange glances, then sigh in defeat.

"So what do we do?" Asks Battle. Before Blossom can answer, the entire place begins trembling and shaking. In seconds a bridge made of blood, flesh, and bone appears leading into the darkness. The girls all stare at it.

"I…I guess that's the w-way we go?" Asks Bubbles. Buttercup walks out onto the bridge, making a disgusted expression when the flesh and bone squishes and creaks beneath her. She jumps on it and stomps on it, but the bridge doesn't give out. She turns to the others and gives them a thumbs up. One by one they all venture out onto the bridge and across the burning lake of fire. Along the way, Battle tries to strike up a conversation with Blossom to break the eerie tension.

"U-Uh…B-Blossom?"

"Yeah Battle?"

"I…I'm sorry about fighting you and stuff a couple days ago…I'm really sorry about Belial…you know…t-tickling you girls and everything,"

"How did you know she tickled us?"

"Well that's what Belial does when we have to fight girls. If you were boys she'd have just killed you. But with girls she likes to use her powers to make them helpless while she tickles them. I-I think being tickled is fun…but I hate it when Belial tickles me 'cause she's too rough. She just makes it torture instead of a game…" Blossom shudders, remembering the night Belial visited her in the Danger Grid. The memory of that still haunted her nightmares…at least up until Glyja had reawakened their old memories as goddesses. After that the only dreams she'd had were of the past.

"Yeah…it was awful." Battle gulps and shakes while she gathers her courage to ask Blossom the most important question ever in her mind.

"B-Bl-Blossom w-w-would it b-b-be o-okay if…w-we…if we d-don't save Belial? Please? Can we please leave her here?" Blossom lowers her head. Her hands shake when Battle asks her that question. That very idea had been plaguing her mind since Him sent them here. Belial is a monster…she isn't a person you can just forgive and forget with…

"I…I don't know Battle…I don't want to make your dad upset…" Battle lowers her head, her eyes watering when she thinks about her dad. If they left Belial here he would be so disappointed. But still…after everything Belial had done to her; she had literally done everything imaginable to make Battle's life a living hell. And now Belial was getting what she deserved…

"Okay…" They suddenly come to the end of the platform where a strange symbol is engraved in the ground. When they step onto the platform that begins glowing black. Black liquid seeps up from the ground and covers the platform. They are suddenly sucked down into it, shrieking in surprise.

_Hell's Throne Room_

Leviathan grins to himself as he watched the "heroes" pass into the next level of Hell. He waves his claw, causing something unexpected to happen. He chuckles and waves his claw a second time. Everything is going according to plan. The heroes are in the second level of Hell, which puts them just one level from the Black Palace.

_A Dark Plains_

Blossom falls to the ground, managing to land on her feet. She looks around in curiosity. It appears she is in a large plains-like place. She walks out a few feet, just checking out the scenery as she looks around. Still no sky, just infinite black; the ground is solid gray. The only plants in the plains are dead, black shrubs and bushes. A massive green demon, it's arms and chest bulging, its legs covered with brown fur and cloven hooves, and its ugly face framed by two curved horns spots Blossom and runs at her. It swings at Blossom with a massive club, which she catches easily with one hand. It's eyes bulge and a small nervous smile appears on its face. Blossom smiles overly sweetly and crushes the club with no effort. The demon sweatdrops and backs away a couple steps. Blossom opens her hand and lets the splinters from the club fall to the ground. The demon gulps and looks at the club shards, then back up at Blossom.

"Boo," The demon shrieks and takes off running away from Blossom. Blossom smirks and lowers her hand. She walks through the plains, slightly bored from the lack of activity. After a few minutes she hears a mass of roars and yells. She looks over her shoulder and sees a huge group of demons like the one she'd seen before. She sweatdrops and laughs nervously.

"This should be…interesting," The demons run at her, which makes Blossom smiles softly to herself. The demons begin pounding on her with their clubs and claws…though Blossom doesn't flinch at their attempts. She looks down at her wrist, like she's wearing a watch, then scratches her head. "Wow…either I'm really strong or you guys are just really weak…" She lifts her hand and a giant pillar of pink energy explodes around her and consumes the group of demons. She puts her arm down and the light fades away. She grins and walks out of the crater she'd just created and heads off in a random direction.

"Okay…so I wonder where I should go…huh?" She spots something far off in the distance. It looks like a small temple or something. She heads out to it and spots something in the temple. She walks up to it and looks at it. It looks like a book of some sort. She picks it up and looks through it. All of the pages are blank. She raises an eyebrow and tosses it over her shoulder. She hears someone…well something chuckle behind her.

"Naughty little girl, you shouldn't throw around other peoples' valuables," Blossom turns around and stares at a new demon. Floating across from Blossom is a female demon with long blonde hair. She has ruby red eyes and pale white skin. From her back protrude two bat wings, while two smaller bat wings protrude from the sides of her head. She is practically naked, aside from the silky, see-through gypsy-ish out fit that she wears. Her fingernails and toenails are painted a shade of red that greatly resembles blood. Her bare feet drift just above the ground; her arms are crossed over her…impressive chest. Blossom, despite her sexual preference toward boys, feels her face flame slightly at the sight of this demon. The demon smiles sensually and flies up to Blossom. Blossom looks up at the demon, who is a foot or two taller than she is. The demon bends down so she is eye level with Blossom.

"You must be Blossom, I saw you destroy those Pit Lords, it was very impressive," Blossom blushes a little more due to the closeness to the demon. The demon gently strokes Blossom cheek, making her sigh softly against her will. Blossom continues staring into those captivating red eyes, feeling her knees buckling. The demon lightly tickles Blossom's neck and chin, making her giggle breathlessly. The demon's sensual smile becomes predatory. "What's the matter dear? Is the pretty little naughty girl ticklish?" She begins tickling Blossom's neck with her other hand as well. Blossom giggles and squirms away from the demon. The demon stands up straight and smirks evilly.

"Forgive me, I never introduced myself did I? My name is Succubus, and I think we're going to have a ton of fun little Blossom," Succubus flies at Blossom, who shakes off the trance-like state she'd been in and flies out of the way. Succubus spins around and lunges at Blossom with incredible speed. Blossom doesn't have time to react and falls to the ground with Succubus on top of her. Succubus immediately begins tickling Blossoms sides. Blossom squirms and clenches her eyes shut, feeling her control slowly slipping away. Succubus blows a little kiss to Blossom, green dust swirling around in the air and then into the ground. Giant plant roots shoot up from the ground and grab Blossom's wrists and ankles. She is lifted and stretched out a couple of inches above the ground.

Blossom struggles against the power of the roots, but finds them far too strong. Succubus giggles and floats above Blossom. She giggles and lifts Blossom's shirt up to her chest line. Blossom trembles from the ever so light touch of Succubus's fingers against her soft skin. Succubus begins lightly tickling Blossom's stomach, making Blossom jerk around and tremble. Succubus continues with the silent tickling of Blossom's belly. She tickles her bellybutton, which makes Blossom jerk and clench her teeth hard to keep from laughing. Succubus wiggles her finger around in Blossom's belly button while she moves to tickle her ribs with her other hand. Blossom shakes and jerks around, her face now turning red from the tickling.

Smooth vines covered in rough, bristly fur rise from the ground. Some slip up Blossom's shirt, a couple wrap around her thighs, more around her calves. A few begin working with her shoes. After the incident with Belial in the Danger Grid Blossom had begun wearing tennis shoes and socks all the time, instead of bare foot with just flip flops or backless shoes like she used to. Her shoes are untied and flung to the ground. Her socks are slipped off, her bare feet wiggling from the exposure to the dank air in these plains. Succubus grins and whistles lightly. Instantly the vines at Blossom's armpits begin lightly stroking the sensitive skin. The ones in her shirt begin stroking her ribs; some more begin stroking her sides. The ones on her thighs begin lightly stroking them and the ones on her calves begin stroking the backs of her knees. Most of the vines; however, have gathered at her feet. Along the base of her toes, between her toes, and all over her soles are covered with the little vines. Instantly they all begin lightly stroking her most ticklish of spots with their rough bristles and pointy ends. Blossom jerks straight up and cracks. She begins laughing hysterically and crying as the vines and Succubus tickle her relentlessly.

_A Dark Ruined City_

Bomb falls from the sky and lands on her feet. She stumbles forward and swings her arms widely to keep from falling on her face. She falls backward on her butt and sighs. Standing up, she looks around. Buildings and black stones fill the area, all of it ruined. The ground is dark black and broken. She wanders around, looking for her sister or the Powerpuff Girls. Unfortunately she can't find them, so she sighs and continues wandering around the ruined city. She hears some noises coming from nearby and peeks around the rubble. There is a group of large, black beast-like creatures tearing into a soul. The soul is screaming bloody murder and trying to get away from them. Unfortunately for the soul, these demons are incapable of destroying an immortal soul. Bomb frowns and walks around the corner. She grabs one of the demons and in seconds it explodes from her touch. The other demons look up and roar at her.

They lunge at Bomb, who simply stands there without worry. One of the demons tries to sink its teeth into her skin, but it isn't even strong enough to pierce her skin. Bomb grabs it by its throat and in seconds it too explodes. She creates two explosion orbs and slams them together. She flings them outward, destroying the remaining demons. She walks up to the soul, who is lying on the ground trembling in fear.

"Uh hey…you're safe now, I blasted those demons," She reaches out toward the soul, who slaps her hand away and lunges at her. Bomb throws it away, but the soul just gets up and snarls at her. "Hey! What's the big idea?" The soul lunges at her, snarling like a wild animal. Bomb holds up her hands and the air in front of her explodes, sending the soul flying into a nearby bubbling pit of lava. "Dude…that was creepy…" She hears something in the air and looks up. It looks like a giant bird flying through the skies. Bomb shrugs and walks on through the ruined city.

After a while she begins to notice that the bird is following her. She grinds her teeth, beginning to get annoyed with the bird. After nearly half an hour of this, she finally turns around and growls up at the sky. When she looks up there she gawks to see the skies empty. She hears something land behind her and spins around. Standing behind her is a female demon with tanned skin. Her hair is short, spiky, and blue. Her feet are massive talons, and her hands are also talons. She has giant wings with big, bright red feathers. Bomb puts her hand on her hip and smirks at the demon.

"Well aren't you pretty," The demon grins.

"I happen to believe I'm very attractive. But you're in luck, I've been assigned to come share my presence with you," Bomb smirks and lifts her hand, an explosion orb gathering around it.

"You're just in time to die then," Bomb throws the explosion orb at her, but the demon moves out of the way with incredible speed. In an instant the demon flies behind Bomb and grabs her wrists. She grabs Bomb's ankles with her foot talons and flies a few feet into the air. Bomb begins struggling, but before she can do anything, the demon begins rubbing her giant red feathers against Bomb's bare arms and calves, which her shorts don't protect. Bomb, who has never resisted the urge to burst into giggles when someone tickles her, instantly squeals and begins giggling. The demon grins and rubs the feathers against Bomb's sides faster. The motion eventually lifts Bomb's shirt up, allowing the feathers to attack her bare stomach and sides. The second her sides are tickled Bomb goes ballistic and begins laughing hysterically. Her calves, behind her knees, her stomach, her underarms, and her most ticklish spot; her sides, are tickled relentlessly.

The two float through the air, the demon giggling while Bomb shrieks and screams with hysterical laughter. The demon uses her tail to lift Bomb's shirt up further, now adding her ribs to the fiendish tickle torture. Bomb cries and thrashes around, but all her thrashing does is make the feathers tickle her even more.

_A Dark Cavern_

Bubbles falls from the sky and lands in a dark cavern. She lands on her butt and squeals with a loud OOF. She stands up and brushes off her bottom. She looks around the cave, shivering and gulping. Walking through the dark cavern, Bubbles begins to notice all of the black puddles of water filling the cavern. The dark cavern echoes with every step she takes. She shrieks when she steps in a puddle, cursing herself for wearing backless shoes instead of her tennis shoes like she knew she should have. She shakes her foot off and grumbles as she continues to wander through the cavern. Behind her a dark shadow shlunks through the black water. The shadow rises from the water and grins, before melting back into the water and following Bubbles.

Bubbles wanders through the cavern bored out of her mind. She can feel all of the new power pumping in her veins and she doesn't even get the chance to test it out. She yawns and stretches as she enters a wide-open area. Something wiggles around in her armpit, making her clamp her arms down on her sides giggling. Bubbles looks behind her, but doesn't see anything. Something shoots up her shirt and wiggles against her belly, making her squeal again. She looks around, now beginning to get nervous, memories of her fights with Blaze and much more so Belial coming back to her. She shakes her head and takes a step forward; something shoots out and wiggles around on the back of her knee, making her knees buckle and causes her to fall forward giggling. She catches herself, but at the same time tentacles shoot from the shadows and grab her. They lift her into the air, where a demonic octopus is lurking.

Bubbles shrieks. The demon is like a blue skinned woman from the waist up, with green eyes and tall spiky blue hair. From the waist down she is an octopus like creature with far, far more than eight tentacles. Her arms are also tentacles. She grabs Bubbles' wrists and yanks them above her. She also grabs her ankles and stretches her legs out. Bubbles struggles against the demon, but before she makes any effort the demon begins tickling her bare armpits mercilessly. Bubbles screams and begins giggling and squirming. The demon chuckles evilly and begins tickling Bubbles' armpits with two more tentacles, making her giggle more. Four…maybe six of the demon's tentacles slip up Bubbles' shirt and begin tickling her stomach, sides, and ribs. Bubbles screams and begins laughing and thrashing violently. The demon grins, tickling around in Bubbles' bellybutton, all over her belly, counting her ribs, stroking up and down her terribly sensitive sides.

Bubbles is in hysterics, and it isn't getting any easier for her. The demon begins tickling her legs and the backs of her knees with more tentacles, making her laugh harder and wiggle the best she can. All Bubbles manages to do; however, is fling her shoes off. This of course brings her to curse herself again for wearing backless shoes. One of the demon's tentacles begins lightly stroking up and down the sole of Bubbles' right foot. She screams and laughs harder. The demon grins and focuses all of its remaining tentacles on Bubbles' feet. Using smaller ones it pulls her toes apart and attacks the deathly ticklish spaces between them and along the base of them. All over her soles, the tentacles wiggle, quickly bringing Bubbles to tears.

_A Creepy Tomb_

Buttercup falls out of the air and lands on her feet. She straightens up and looks around her; a musty old tomb, like something from a mummy movie or something. She snorts and wanders down the musty halls. All around her corpses of demons, humans, and other creatures fill nearly every corner. As she's walking along she hears something scraping behind her. Looking over her shoulder she doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary…well as far as ordinary goes with this place. She turns and walks down the hall again. As she walks she continues to hear the scraping noise behind her. She quickly ducks around a corner and waits for whatever was following her to walk by.

A boney hand with flesh clinging to it shoots from the ground and grabs her ankle. Buttercup shrieks in surprise and swings her leg. She tears the rotting corpse from the ground and sends it flying into a wall. All of the corpses around her suddenly begin coming to life. Hundreds upon thousands upon millions of rotting bodies and skeletons rise and begin living once more. When they spot her, they all immediately rush for her. Buttercup grins, this was going to be hella fun for sure! She dodges a charge from a skeleton and kicks it hard in the back, sending it shattering across the tomb. A group of zombies lunge for her. Buttercup kicks them away and lands. She grins and fires her eyebeams. The massive rays of heat fill the entire hall and blast down the corridor vaporizing thousands of the undead legions. Some zombies and skeletons jump on Buttercup. She snaps her fingers and a giant pillar of green energy explodes around her, vaporizing them. With a simple wave of her hand the pillar fades away.

Buttercup looks around her, seeing more and more of the horrors coming at her, probably five for every one she destroyed. She grins and a green flame surrounds her. Buttercup shoots down one of the halls, turning any of the zombies and skeletons she touches to dust. She stops at the end of the hallway, the monsters coming from her on three sides now. She lifts her hands and fires massive beams of green energy down the corridors on her left and right, vaporizing all of the monsters that fill them. She spins around and fires another beam down the hall she'd just flown through, vaporizing even more of the undead. She lowers her arms and the green fire around her fizzles out. She looks around and sees that instead of fewer monsters coming at her, nearly ten times as many are coming at her.

"Geez, there's a ton of these pepperdyne fairies!" She stops and blinks at what she'd just said. She slaps herself in the forehead and laughs, "I've so got to stop hanging out with Lance and Dusty, I'm picking up way too many of their sayings," She slams her fists together, sending a massive shockwave of green energy out from where they collided. The shockwave tears through the monsters, "killing" all of them it hits. She grins and looks around. To her surprise and amazement there are even **more** monsters coming at her. She clenches her fists and growls. Despite being practically invincible, she'll never find her way out of this tomb if she can't get rid of these things. The green fire appears around her again. This time she simple yells in fury. The ground in each of the three corridors around her split open in the center and massive walls of green light shoot from the cracks consuming the monsters.

Buttercup crosses her arms and grins as the green fire fizzles out around her. The ground rejoins and the light fades. Her grin becomes a gawk of amazement. These things…there were way too many! Hell, now it looks like there are a billion times more than when she started. Her eyes shrink when she finally releases what's happening. To test her theory, she blasts one close to her. It becomes a pile of dust on the ground that is quickly trampled by the monsters behind it. Suddenly each particle of dust begins glowing, and soon for every speck of dust there is a new zombie. She clenches her eyes and fists, the green fire once more bursting up around her. Unless she can destroy every last piece of matter in these monsters, they'll keep coming back, their numbers increasing massively! She yells and the entire tomb begins shaking. The green light around her begins expanding, slowly filling the corridors around her. Massive rays of green light, just barely able to fit in the corridors shoot from Buttercup. The light spreads out, filling every open inch of the tomb.

Buttercup stops yelling and the green light slowly fades away. This time, it is clear that she's finally won. She grins smugly and floats down to the ground, continuing her trek through the tomb. Upon coming to a massive closed door with a skull and cross bone symbol on it, Buttercup grins again. Obviously Hell just didn't know when to accept it was beaten. She pushes the door open and walks through, not startled when it slams shut behind her. She walks around the small circular room, surprised to see it completely empty. She looks up at the ceiling, but her super sight can't see through the seemingly endless darkness. She also looks around for an exit, but there isn't one to be found.

Something suddenly falls from the shadows and slams into Buttercup. She pushes herself up into a kneeling position, and suddenly feels something grab her wrists and pull them above her. Something else is also holding her ankles, keeping her in this rather awkward position. Sitting on Buttercup's legs, holding her down with its taloned feet is a massive purple demon. It has long blonde hair and eight arms. Two of its arms are grasping Buttercup's wrists tightly and holding her arms above her. Before Buttercup can simply toss the demon off of her, which is difficult due to her position, the demon begins using its other six arms. Two hands attack her vulnerable armpits, two begin tickling and squeezing her sides and two more tickle her thighs. Buttercup gasps with a loud squeal and begins trying to fight off the tickling. The demon doesn't just slowly work into it though; it just begins tickling her full force. Buttercup lasts an impressive amount of time, her face bright red and her eyes watering. But the constantly harsh tickling cracks her. Buttercup screams and begins laughing hard and loud. Tears pour down her hot cheeks, her chest heaving with gasps and bursts of mighty laughter.

_Somewhere Filled With Mist_

Battle falls from the sky and lands on her face. She pushes herself up, sniffling a little as she pushes her glasses back into place. She sits on her legs and looks around. She can't tell where she is…it's filled with a dull purple mist that makes it impossible to see anything. She stands up, squinting to see through her glasses that are fogging up. She takes them off and wipes them on her shirt. She puts them back on, and smiles happily to be able to see clearly. She wanders through the mist, hoping to find any of the other girls, preferably Bomb. She feels a sinking feeling in her chest, like something horrible is lurking just around the corner. She is terrified by the thought of running into Blaze, Blood, Blitz…even Belial.

Something moves behind her, her ears just barely picking up the rustle in the mist. She spins around and is tackled by something. She looks up and sees a demon about her height sitting on her. The demon has a feminine figure, solid blue skin, pointy ears, and its face empty except for its mouth. Atop its head is long red hair. It grins at her, as Battle begins shaking with fear. More demons just like this one, only with different hair color, appear from the mist. They grab her wrists and ankles. Battle is now screaming shrilly. More and more demons sit down around her. They yank her into a sitting position, holding her legs above the ground. Her flip-flops are tossed off without a care and instantly the torture begins. They pull her shirt up and begin tickling her instantly. Her stomach, her sides, her ribs, her armpits, knees, thighs, calves, toes, feet, no part of her body escapes the merciless tickling. Battle, like Bomb, had never held back her giggles or laughs when someone tickled her so she instantly begins screaming with hysterical laughter and crying. Tongues, fingers, hair, feathers, anything the demons can get their hands on are used to torture Battle in their merciless game.

_Blaze's Room_

Blaze sits on her bed and stares at the marble her father had used to awaken their power. It doesn't reflect what little light there is in the room, it seems to absorb instead. She lies back and stares at the ceiling. The burning desire to be with Belial is becoming stronger with every minute that passes. Something big is going to happen soon…she needs to tell Belial how she feels. But here she is…still hiding from the world, and still not ready to go see Belial.


	25. Into the Black Palace

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.  
A/N: Sorry about the horribly long wait, I've just been having a lazy spell. I hope I can get this story finished sometime in the near future.  
**  
Bomb and the bird demon are still flying through the air above the ruined city. Bomb has given up thrashing, unable to do anything but completely submit to the unbearable red feathers tickling her defenseless upper body. Tears are streaming down her hot, red cheeks as her hysterical laughter gets to the point where it is just painful silent laughter. Her sides are aching; heck her whole body is sore from being unable to stop laughing. The bird demon giggles evilly, still enjoying every second of her captive's suffering. Bomb jerks back, her muscles twitching for some reason. The air near the two suddenly explodes violently, making the bird demon scream and fly away. She growls and begins tickling Bomb more, figuring Bomb was trying to get away. Unbeknownst to the bird demon, Bomb is completely losing control of her powers, and that explosion had been a mild spasm from her hysterical state.

Hours seem to fly by as Bomb slowly continues to laugh herself insane, possibly even to death from being unable to catch her breath. She suddenly jerks again, another explosion rocking the ground. The bird growls again; the explosions keep getting closer, so again she assumes it was Bomb's conscious attempt to get free. Once more she picks up the pace of her tickling, pushing Bomb further away from recovery. Bomb arches her back and screams as a massive explosion goes off between the two. The bird demon screams in pain as she is sent flying far away from Bomb. Bomb falls face first on the ground, still giggling, though now moaning in pain. She pushes herself up, weakly stumbling to her feet. Slowly she recovers, her powers once more coming back to her control.

The bird demon sits up and screams again. Her wings have been torn to bloody ribbons from the explosion. The pain shooting through her body is unlike anything she'd felt before. Her eyes watering she climbs to her feet, screaming in pain again and falling to her knees. Apparently one of her legs is broken as well. Bomb turns around and looks at the bird demon, an impish grin finding its way to her face. She gets down into a take-off position, an explosion going off at her feet sending her flying forward. She pulls her feet up and moments before she is about to hit the bird demon, another explosion goes off beneath her feet. This one sends her flying back, while also sending the bird demon flying.

Bomb pulls her legs up to her chest, giggling excitedly as another explosion goes off sending her upward at an angle. She bounces around like this for a few minutes, resembling a pinball. Then she thrusts her legs out, another explosion sending her back toward the bird demon. The bird demon is just now attempting to stand again. She looks up in time to be clotheslined by Bomb. Bomb puts her feet out to skid to a halt and twists her body around. Another explosion goes off at her feet, sending her back at the bird demon, nailing her hard in the back of the head with her fist. She spins and thrusts her hands out; creating an explosion that sends the bird demon flying. Bomb skids to a halt and giggles to herself.

"This is fun, I should've tried this a long time ago!" She salutes and an explosion goes off beneath her, sending her into the air laughing. She again begins to bounce herself around in the air by means of the explosions she creates in the air, which are completely harmless to her. While she is doing this, the bird demon manages to recover, growling at how childish Bomb is acting. She tries to stumble away, but in that instant she is tackled by Bomb. Bomb sits on her bare stomach grinning at the bird demon, who moans in pain from her torn up wings being pushed into the dirt. Bomb pokes her in the side, grinning as that spot suddenly explodes. The bird demon arches her back and screams in pain. Bomb giggles semi-sadistically and begins poking the demon all over her upper body (not really picky about where she pokes on the bird demon's bare chest). She stops and grins at the bird demon.

"So you wanna guess which spots are gonna go boom?" The bird demon begins crying, trying to crawl out from under Bomb. Bomb grins and leans closer. "Boom!" A spot on the demon's body suddenly explodes, making her scream again. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three spots explode on the demon's body, making her scream and cry more. Bomb grins evilly and takes a deep breath. The demon screams and tries to claw away. Bomb suddenly leans in real close to the demon, her hands on the demon's shoulders. "Boom…" she whispers in the demon's ear. There is an earth-shattering scream as Bomb is hurled into the air laughing by the resulting explosion. Bomb lands on her butt on the ground, still laughing. She gets up and wanders off, whistling while she walks away from the crater left by the bird demon's explosion.

_The Dark Plains_

Blossom has long since lost her voice under the hellish tickle torture Succubus and the plant are inflicting on her. Her poor feet are a bright shade of pink from the millions of bristly vines covering them with tickly wrath. Succubus is giggling and grinning the whole time she continues to tickle Blossom's quivering tummy. The other vines don't go unnoticed as they also continue their torture. Blossom is crying hysterically, unable to do anything but squeak once in a while. She can't even feel all of her godlike power flowing in her anymore. The tickling had totally drained her of all her energy.

"Awww…is the poor baby too weak to fight back? Well that's too bad because I'm having the time of my life!" Succubus giggles and floats down, blowing a raspberry on Blossom's belly button. Blossom jerks and falls back into her limp laughing. Succubus slowly blows raspberry's up Blossom's stomach, then on her ribs, then her neck, then stops with her face inches from Blossom's, still tickling her belly with her hands. Something about Blossom's tear stained, red face is turning Succubus on like nobodies business. Succubus half-closes her eyes as she dances around the thought of taking Blossom right there on the ground while still helpless and tickled by her plant. An explosion sounds through the plains, shocking Succubus out of her thoughts. She sits up and stops tickling Blossom, who is still being tortured by the plant. Succubus growls at the thought of her excitement being interrupted. She looks back down at Blossom, growling seductively at her incredibly attractive captive. The fact that Blossom is only ten years old doesn't mean a thing to a sex-demon like Succubus.

Another explosion, this one echoed by the screams of the pit lords and other demonic creatures. Succubus snarls angrily and looks in the direction of the explosions for the person stupid enough to interrupt her fun. To her surprise a girl a little shorter than Blossom with red hair, faded black in a few places, is walking toward her. Her yellow eyes brim with impish glee as she skips along through the plains, blowing up anything she passes with near-sadistic glee. Succubus recognizes her as one of the other girls that had come to destroy Leviathan. She laughs a little at the thought.

"No one can beat Leviathan! He's invincible!" she says softly to herself as she resumes tickling Blossom, quickly becoming taken by her primal urges once more. Before this can continue for long, however, another explosion goes off in Succubus's face, sending her flying backward through the air. She stops and looks up just in time to see a fist smash into her nose. Bomb giggles and pulls her fist back, grinning at Succubus. Succubus growls and thorn-covered vines shoot from the ground around Bomb. Unlike Blossom, who was trapped by the vines grabbing her, these more dangerous vines explode seconds after touching Bomb. Succubus gulps and soon finds herself being flung into the air by an explosion created beneath her. Bomb appears above her and begins playing ping-pong with Succubus in mid-air.

Succubus slams into the ground, bleeding horribly from all of the explosions. She weakly pushes herself up, gulping back tears of pain while she does so. Bomb appears in front of her and shakes her head mockingly.

"Wow, you need some fiber or something, cause you break way too easily," A few tears leak down Succubus's face. Bomb shrugs and pokes her in the forehead, knocking her backward. The second she lands on her back she explodes, which bring another childish giggle from Bomb. She turns around and finds herself laughing again as she watches Blossom suffer at the roots of the tickling plant. She walks up, grinning, and sits down at Blossom's feet, watching the plant do its work. She laughs and pokes the plant, which explodes seconds later. Blossom slumps back on the ground, gasping for air and giggling. She pushes herself up on her elbows and giggles a little while wiping her eyes.

"Th-Thanks B-Bomb," Bomb giggles and leans forward with her elbows on her legs.

"Hey no problem, we're workin' together right?" Blossom nods and sighs, falling on her back in exhaustion. Bomb grins and grabs Blossom's ankle, making her shriek in surprise. That shriek quickly turns into loud laughs and giggles as Bomb begins lightly tickling Blossom's foot. Blossom pounds her hands on the ground laughing and trying to pull her foot away from Bomb, without really trying. Bomb stops after only a few minutes, grinning and giggling. "That's for when you tickled Battly a few days ago," Blossom laughs and sits up.

"Alright fine, we're even," She giggles and yawns. Bomb gets up and tosses Blossom her socks, then goes to retrieve her shoes, which had been flung a little further. Blossom slips her socks on, then ducks when one of her shoes comes flying in almost hitting her in the head. Bomb sweatdrops and giggles nervously as she walks up and hands Blossom her other shoe. Blossom laughs and stands up. She brushes off her clothes and stretches. "So do you know where the others are?" Bomb shakes her head.

"I was kinda just wandering around when I found you. I have no clue where anyone else is…I'm worried about Battle, she gets really scared when she's out alone," Blossom nods and the two set off in some random direction, hoping it will lead them to the others.

For seemingly hours they walk around the dank, desolate plains. They mostly walk in silence, feeling a little uncomfortable around each other, even after the way they'd played around when Bomb saved Blossom. Their wandering had led them back to the city Bomb had appeared in, but still no sign of the others. Aside from the random demon encounter (which lasted about a fraction of a second due to both of them being incredibly powerful) their trip had been very uneventful. Blossom sighs and looks up at the sky. Bomb glances at her, then looks back onto their path.

"You know…it's not like the answer is gonna be up there in neon lights," Blossom laughs a little and turns to Bomb.

"Yeah…but I'm getting worried, this is taking way too long," Bomb nods. Suddenly the ground gives out beneath Blossom, who vanishes into the hole she'd fallen into. Bomb peaks into the hole, getting down on her hands and knees to look in.

"Blossom? Are you okay?" Blossom's voice shouts back from deep within the hole.

"Just peachy! But I think we should check down here, we might find something!" Bomb nods, though Blossom can't see this, and jumps down the hole. Blossom screams as Bomb lands on her and knocks them both to the ground. Bomb laughs sheepishly and climbs off Blossom, helping her up as well. They are now in a dark cave filled with puddles of water. They pick a direction through a very complicated means and head down that way.

"Geez Bomb, you're pretty good at Rock-Paper-Scissors," Comments Blossom. Bomb laughs and puts her hands behinds her head.

"Well…yeah, yeah I am." As they are walking, Bomb suddenly shrieks when she steps in a puddle. She curses the water and kicks it, getting Blossom wet in the process. They wander back down the path, now a little wet, and come across a large room with water against the right and left walls.

"Huh…this is suspicious." Says Blossom. Bomb nods and looks around. Blossom notices a shoe nearby, and sweatdrops when she realizes it is Bubbles'. She looks up, laughing when she sees the sight above them.

Bubbles is red in the face and crying hysterically as the octopus demon continues to tickle her insane. Bubbles, like Blossom and Bomb, has lost her voice from the relentless tickling and is unable to move in the least from fatigue. A searing pink beam suddenly shoots from below, vaporizing the octopus. Bubbles shrieks as she falls out of the sky. She lands in someone's arms and screams in surprise. She looks up and sees Blossom's friendly pink eyes looking back at her.

"Blossom!" Bubbles throws her arms around Blossom's neck and hugs her. She climbs out of Blossom's arms, then promptly squeals and jumps back in her arms when her feet touch the cold ground. Blossom laughs and hands Bubbles her shoes. Once they are on, Bubbles steadies herself on the ground and smiles at Blossom. Bomb is examining the wall on that blocks their path. She puts her ear against it, hissing from the cold at first. She knocks on it a few times, then smiles and punches it. The second her fist hits it, the wall crumbles revealing a dark path.

"Hey! This is the way we should go…I think…" Blossom and Bubbles join her in staring into the black abyss awaiting them.

"…So how'd you two get free?" asks Bubbles as the three wander through what appears to be a very old tomb. They had been following a path through the cave and somehow ended up here, with no clue what to expect. Judging by the scorch marks and dents along the walls, something had been through here recently, hopefully Buttercup or Battle.

"My powers kinda went floopy so I got away from this stupid bird thing that was tickling me. After I blew her up I found Blossom and blew up the demon tickling her, then we were walking around and somehow accidentally found that cave you were in," says Bomb. Blossom nods, and so does Bubbles. They continue walking around, still totally lost in the maze of the tomb.

The three turn the corner, running from the hostile legion of the undead following them.

"WHY did you make that corpse explode Bomb!" shouts Blossom. Bomb grins and shrugs. They turn around the corner and press against the wall as some of the zombies and skeletons run by. Bubbles gulps and peeks around the corner, only to have a rusty sword come crashing down on her neck. She doesn't flinch, just blasts the skeleton with her eyebeams.

"Okay it's clear now," they move around the corner, only to find an army of skeletons waiting for them. The three gulp and fire their eyebeams at them, before taking off down the hall. Soon they have billions upon billions of undead soldiers chasing them. Bomb suddenly swerves down a corridor, leaning out and pulling Blossom and Bubbles in too. They run down the hall, to a large door marked with a skull and cross-bones. They push the door open and run in, helping it close behind them once they are all in. They slump against the wall and breath a sigh of relief.

Buttercup is still laughing hard and loud as the demon continues to tickle her relentlessly. Blossom, Bubbles, and Bomb sweatdrop at the sight. Bubbles fires her eyebeams at the demon, knocking it away from Buttercup and into the opposite wall, where it is vaporized. Buttercup falls forward and continues laughing for a little while longer. She sits up and wipes her eyes.

"About time you losers showed up, I was getting bored," The four laugh and gather in the middle, trying to find someway to continue.

"So…where do we go now?" asks Bubbles. Buttercup shrugs, but the question is quickly answered as a portal of some sort appears in the center of the room.

"…That SO needed the Zelda secret tune to play when it appeared." Says Buttercup. All four of the girls make the little sound that plays in a Zelda game when a secret appears. They laugh and walk through the portal, expecting to find Battle on the other end.

They appear in a big place of nothing…well nothing but this creepy mist. They can hear shrill laughing and screaming coming from a long ways away. Bomb instantly takes off, leaving the others in her dust. The puffs shrug and walk off in the direction Bomb went, figuring things will be under control by the time they get there.

By the time Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup arrive, the ground it covered in craters from Bomb's explosions and Bomb is kneeling on the ground holding Battle, who is probably cutting her air off by hugging her so much. Bomb hugs Battle tightly. After the greetings and finding Battle's flip-flops, the five gather together again to decide what they should do. The question is again answered for them as they are pulled into the ground, and into the next level of Hell.

The five girls appear in a massive corridor made of black stone. The walls are lined with torches, which light the dank and dark path. They look around, quickly figuring they are in the Black Palace.

"So this is it? It's dark…" says Bubbles. Buttercup rolls her eyes, and then quickly catches her breath. She grabs Bubbles and Blossom, pulling them up into the darkness above them. Bomb and Battle see this and quickly join them, pressed against the cold stone ceiling. Just a few moments later Blitz walks beneath them. She slumps against the wall, holding her head.

"Why can't I tell her? This is so unfair…I j-j-just want her to know how I feel." She wipes her eyes, growling violently at herself for even thinking about crying. She sighs and puts her head on her knees. "But I know she'll hate me…I think she has a crush on that weirdo working for Father…what is up with that mask?" She catches her breath and stands up. She lets out a shaky sigh and shakes her head. "I'd better go…I was supposed to see Father soon…" She walks off, quickly straightening her posture and looking as confident and powerful as always.

Once Blitz is gone the girls float down from the ceiling, checking to make sure she's gone.

"Why did we hide? We could've taken her. We have all these new powers and there's five of us!" Says Bubbles. Buttercup shrugs and scratches her head.

"I guess I just freaked out when I heard someone coming. I don't think we want this whole place on high alert." Says Buttercup. Bubbles nods and looks off in the direction Blitz went.

"She said she was going to see Leviathan…should we go that way?" asks Battle. Bomb nods in agreement that was who they came to take out anyway. Blossom shakes her head and begins carefully walking in the direction Blitz had come from. The other four quickly take off after her.

"Why are we going this way Blossom? Aren't we supposed to go beat Leviathan?" asks Bomb. Blossom nods, but continues in the direction she's going.

"Yeah…but we can't go right away. If we show up while Blitz and potentially Beelzebub, Blood, and Blaze are there, there's no way we can hope to win. We need to take them each out one by one, then deal with Leviathan when he's alone." The others blink and nod. The thought of fighting Leviathan AND Blitz, Blood, Blaze, and Beelzebub was not a pleasant thought…even though Bomb and Battle aren't entirely sure who Beelzebub is.

The girls wander through the halls, making sure to avoid causing any kind of disturbance, by hiding from any demons they encounter along the way. After what feels like ages, they finally find a door along the wall. Bubbles glances at it as they pass it, then stops and goes back to it. She notices it is slightly open, and can hear someone inside.

"…I want my daddy…I just want to go home…"

Bubbles whispers to the others and catches their attention. They gather together and slowly open the door, not knowing what to expect. What greets them is perhaps the very last thing they expected to see.

Belial jerks up when the door opens and fearfully glances in that direction. She begins feeling sick when she see who is standing at the door. She gulps and weakly tries to lean away from them, even though they're still crowded at the door staring at her. Her heart is beating hard, her stomach twisting and churning. She feels her eyes water and quickly begins trying to hold back her tears. Buttercup is the first to get over the shock and walks up to Belial.

"So this is what happened to the all-powerful Belial." Belial whimpers and tries to pull away from Buttercup. She can feel her powers, but they are only a far too small buzz in the back of her mind. It's so far and distant, there's no way she'll recover them fast enough to get free. The other girls walk up and survey the sight before them. Battle is practically hiding behind Bomb, both of them worried this might just be a psychic projection and the real Belial is just waiting to strike at them.

"…Are we going to let her go?" asks Bomb in a very small whisper. Belial's heart jumps for a second, but her brief moment of hope is shattered when Buttercup snorts.

"Heck no, after what she did to us? We don't need her anyway, we're all already more powerful than she is," Belial gulps and continues to remain silent, because begging hadn't gotten her anywhere yet and she seriously doubts it will work with her sisters and the Powerpuff Girls.

"So what should we do?" asks Bubbles. Blossom is still staring at Belial, noting everything about her current appearance. She grins a little and leans closer to her. Belial squeaks and tries to jerk away from her.

"…How's everyone on the idea of payback?" Belial begins shaking, hoping for some kind of divine intervention that would make them just leave her alone. Battle comes out from behind Bomb, glancing at Blossom.

"Payb-back?" They all look back at Belial. Buttercup grins and hops up on her thighs. She immediately grabs Belial's sides and begins tickling her. Belial jerks and bucks, laughing and screaming as the tears break free and begin flowing again. Bomb nervously walks up to Belial and shakily lifts her hands. She stands behind Belial and gathers her courage before she starts tickling her ribs. Belial screams and laughs harder, bucking like a mechanical bull ride. Bubbles skips off to Belial's feet, with Blossom close behind her. Battle just stands there shaking, unable to really process the though of tickling Belial back.

She looks at Bomb and Buttercup, then at Blossom and Bubbles who are just watching at the moment. Battle gulps and walks up. She shakily begins tickling Belial's underarms, which makes her squeal and scream. Battle continues nervously, until finally realizing this time it isn't going to come back on her. She giggles and finally gets comfortable while tickling Belial.

Blossom and Bubbles each pick a foot and begin going to work. The second Blossom and Bubbles' fingernails go work on Belial's feet, she freaks and begins screaming and laughing harder, if that's actually possible. Buttercup begins tickling Belial's stomach, poking and prodding while tickling her bellybutton. Bomb tickles up and down Belial's ribs, mockingly counting each rib. Bomb just giggles and continues tickling Belial's underarms gleefully. Blossom pulls Belial's toes back with one hand and tickles all over her stretched out sole with the other. While she is doing this Bubbles is tickling the toes on her other foot with one hand and tickling her sole with the other.

Belial laughs and screams, crying hysterically and praying for them to make this quick. Unfortunately for Belial, it doesn't end any time soon. Buttercup keeps tickling Belial's sides and belly, blowing a raspberry on her belly for fun. Battle has decided to try something new, so she is now tickling around Belial's neck and ears, which is making her jerk her head around more while she continues crying and laughing. Bomb, to compensate for this, has begun tickling Belial's underarms as well as her ribs. She tickles up her ribs and in her armpits, then back down again. Bubbles and Blossom are still having a blast tickling Belial's feet. Blossom is tickling softly and slowly, while Bubbles tickles her fast and hard, the combination making Belial's torture worse.

After a few hours, Blossom suddenly realizes how sidetracked they are. She motions at Bubbles and the two stop. The others notice them heading for the door, so reluctantly they all stop and join them. As they are walking out the door, Battle turns to Belial and glares at her before leaving and shutting the door. Belial sits there calming down for a few minutes, before breaking down and crying.

_Blaze's Room_

Blaze sits up and stares at the wall. She'd fallen asleep again, without even realizing it. She rubs her eyes and swings her legs over the side of the bed. For a few moments she just sits there. Then some…sinking feeling hits her. She glances at the black marble she'd kept from Leviathan. She picks it up and quickly begins getting dressed.

"Something…S-Something's about to happen…I have to go now, I have to talk to her…" Blaze finishes getting dressed and slips into her flip-flops before opening her door and taking off to see Belial, the black marble clenched tightly in her hand.


	26. Showdown In the Black Sanctuary

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

The five heroines wander through the halls of the black palace, feeling they've waited long enough. Now the time has come to finally put an end to Leviathan's evil reign over the chaotic pits of the burning hells. They journey down the hall they'd seen Blitz take earlier. Hours upon hours drag by, as nothing around them looks any different. No doors or any turns, just endlessly wandering forward through the darkness. Suddenly they enter a massive chamber, containing two paths leading forward and right, and on the left wall a massive door with strange symbols covering it. The symbols seem vaguely familiar to Bomb and Battle, but none of the five can understand anything. The only really recognizable symbol is the pentagram in the center. On each of the five points is a different word written in some unreadable language.

"…I take it we use the big door?" asks Buttercup.

"I dunno…it might just be a library or something," says Bubbles, though she seriously doubts if that's even close to truth. In reality she is just hoping they'll keep going and avoid the final battle as long as possible.

"No, I'm sure that's it. Let's go," says Blossom. She walks up to the giant door, the others zipping behind her as they stare at it. Blossom gulps and pushes on the massive doors. Slowly they creak loudly and open, taking quite a bit of effort to open. Finally the gateway to the showdown is open and after a short moment of silence the girls head into the darkness, as the door slams shut behind them.

The room is completely dark, no light to be found at all. They stay huddled together as they wander into the darkness, expecting something to leap out and attack them at any moment. Flames burst and light up a few torches on the walls, giving a dull light to the dark room. They are standing in a massive circular, cathedral-type room. A massive pentagram is painted on the floor, with the same five words from before written across each point. And in the center of this room…are Blitz and Blood.

"It's about time you got here, I was getting bored," Says Blood. She stretches and gives Blitz a little push, snapping her out of her thoughts. "The losers are here," Blitz looks up and grins before nodding. The five heroines seem just slightly worried. Buttercup is again the first to think up a snappy comeback.

"Yeah right, we've gotten a lot tougher and there's no way you two can beat all five of us," she says with a bit of a waver in her voice. Brave as she is, Buttercup can't forget the horrible beating she received at Blood's hands. Blood cracks her knuckles and gives Buttercup a "Bring-It-On" gesture. Buttercup growls and flies at Blood. Blood leans back, just barely avoiding Buttercup's swing. Buttercup gulps a little and continues a furious assault on Blood. Blood continues to stay two-steps ahead of Buttercup. Buttercup powers up while continuing with her barrage of punches and kicks, but no matter how much harder she tries Blood stays a step ahead.

"What's wrong? Am I too fast for you?" She grabs Buttercup's fist and holds it with relative ease. Buttercup begins shaking as she tries harder and harder to overpower Blood. Blood jerks her forward and knees her in the stomach. Blood punches her in the face, knocking her back. Buttercup stumbles a bit, then gulps and lunges at Blood. Blood steps to the side and shoves Buttercup forward, making her fall to the ground. Buttercup pushes herself up and again begins trying to just touch Blood.

Blood grins and punches Buttercup. While she's stumbling back Blood begins going all-out, punching Buttercup constantly, knocking her backward with each hit. She knees her in the stomach, causing her to double over gasping for air. Blood uppercuts her, knocking Buttercup off her feet. While she is partially airborne, Blood grabs Buttercup's leg and throws her back at the other four girls. Buttercup shakily stands up, shaking a little as her initial fear of suffering another beating via Blood returns forcefully. Blood, still grinning, crosses her arms and gives Buttercup a venomous glare.

"So you still think you can beat us? That was nothing, together me and Blitz can easily kill all five of you. So c'mon and let's get this slaughter started!" Blood powers up and flies at them, making the girls scatter to avoid her charge. Blood turns and fires twin beams of maroon energy at the nearest girls, who end up being Bubbles and Bomb. The two dodge quickly and both fire back at Blood. Blood jumps and fires back at them with her eyebeams. Buttercup tackles her out of the air, knocking her aim off and driving her to the ground. She begins punching at Blood mercilessly, while Blood just puts her arms up in front of her face and tries to get away. She powers up and blasts Buttercup with her eyebeams knocking her off.

Blossom and Battle turn to Blitz, who is just watching with amusement. Blossom nudges Battle and together the two fly at Blitz, who grins and just watches them approach. When Blossom attempts to throw a punch at Blitz, Blitz suddenly moves with lightning speed, striking Blossom out of the air with a burst of black lightning. She backflips over Battle, who tries to fire a cutting burst of wind at her, and kicks her in the face. She grabs her hair as she's falling and throws her at Blossom, who had been flying to attack Blitz again. Blitz grins and turns to them, black lightning crackling around her.

"This should be quick and very painful for you, promise me you'll scream a lot," Blitz fires out a black ball crackling with lightning, causing Blossom and Battle to scatter to avoid it. They both begin firing their eyebeams at Blitz, testing their luck at a long-range fight. Blitz weaves in and out of the beams, firing back with her own. The three fly around each other in a dance of death through the air, blasting away with their eyebeams.

Blood jumps, lunges, and rolls away from Buttercup, Bomb, and Bubbles continued assault. She manages to get close enough to punch Bubbles. She grabs her and jerks her into the path of Bomb's explosive attack. Bomb shrieks and jerks the attack out of its course. Blood grins and shoves Bubbles forward, blasting her with a maroon energy beam. She then puts her hands up and catches Buttercup's fist as she comes flying from the air at Blood. Buttercup growls and struggles to overpower Blood. She yelps when Blood jerks her forward and knees her in the stomach again.

Bubbles gets up and tackles Blood, making her let go of Buttercup. Bubbles draws back and begins punching Blood continuously. Blood punches Bubbles off and is blasted by several explosive blasts from Bomb. She regains her balance in time to have Buttercup's knee smash into her face. Blood doubles over holding her face and mumbling curses into her hands. When she uncovers her face she gasps for air as Buttercup punches her in the stomach. While she's preoccupied the other two join and soon Blood is on the bad side of a three way beating.

Blitz jumps away from Blossom's Shinespark attack and fires back with bursts of black lightning. Battle fires razor wind bursts at her, which causes Blitz to start moving again. She skids to a stop, hearing Blood's yelps and screams, and quickly turns to her sister. Her eyes bulge, then narrow as more black lightning crackles around her; she then lets off a massive discharge of black lightning, big enough to hit Blossom and Battle and send them crashing into the wall. Blitz grabs Bomb and Bubbles, smashing their heads together and throwing them away from Blood. Buttercup backs away from Blood, then moves toward Blitz with a punch. Blitz releases a discharge of black lightning, sending Buttercup flying back. She turns to Blood, worriedly, and helps her up.

"A-Are you okay Blood?" asks Blitz. Blood wipes her face off and stares at the stains on her hand. She growls and glares at the five heroines, who have now regrouped.

"Yeah peachy," Blood growls before flying at them and tackling Buttercup. Her eyes widen as a sadistic grin appears on her face. She then grabs Buttercup's throat and a maroon light surrounds the two. Buttercup grabs Blood's wrist, but her eyes widen when some unnatural cold rushes through her. It feels like all of the warmth in her is just being sucked away, leaving her cold and tired. Her eyelids become heavy, her breathing slowing down. Then when she begins to close her eyes a bright light flashes and she is jerked out of her drowning feeling. She sits up shakily and looks up a Blossom, who is kneeling over her.

"B-Buttercup are you okay?" she asks. Buttercup nods and clings onto Blossom as she shakily pulls herself to her feet. The weak, lifeless feeling slowly leaves her but she still feels a little shaky. She lets go of Blossom and regains her balance. She looks back at Blossom's worried expression and smiles, which makes Blossom smile back. A burst of black lightning slams into the two of them, ramming them into the wall. Blitz blasts Bubbles away from her with a small discharge, making her skid back several feet. Bomb and Battle are using their infamous teamwork to try to combat Blood…but it seems as if Blood has become several times more powerful.

"Give up! You can't stop us!" Blood grabs Bomb and Battle by their throats and holds tightly while that psychotic, sadistic look reappears in her eyes. The maroon light surrounds the three of them and Bomb and Battle begin jerking around. Blossom and Buttercup both fire their Starburst Beams at Blood, managing to knock her off the two. Battle and Bomb lie on the ground twitching and jerking around. This stops after a few minutes, and they manage to get back up.

While this is happening Blossom and Buttercup are locked in a massive struggle against Blood. It's obvious now that Blood has definitely become much stronger, probably due to the attack she'd used on Buttercup, Battle, and Bomb. Blossom freezes Blood to the ground with her Ice Breath, allowing herself and Buttercup a free assault on her. While they are attacking Blood, who can only guard her face to protect herself, Bomb and Battle join in, adding more to Blood's beating.

Bubbles dodges and zips around wave after wave of black lightning from Blitz. When Blitz notices Blood's situation, Bubbles quickly attacks her, drawing her attention away from Blood. The two fly through the air punching and kicking at each other. Blitz fires a bolt of black lightning at Bubbles, who dodges and uses a Sonic Clap to render Blitz immobile for a few moments. In those moments Bubbles manages to get a few good hits in on Blitz. She powers up and thrusts her hands out in front of Blitz's chest.

"Burst Flash!" An endless barrage of tiny energy balls fire from Bubbles hands, driving Blitz back slowly and causing her to growl in pain. Blitz releases a discharge, knocking Bubbles out of the air. She then fires a massive blast of black lightning at the girls attacking Blood, giving Blood enough time to free herself. Blitz turns back and is drilled in the face by a powerful punch from Bubbles. She turns back and snarls then begins a merciless assault against Bubbles. Bubbles struggles to find some way to fight back, but she is too busy protecting her face from Blitz's enraged assault to fight back.

Blood continues her war against the other four girls, who struggle to beat her despite having greater numbers. Blood charges and lunges at Buttercup. Before she can Bomb tackles her from behind and gets her into an arm lock. Blood stands up and begin jerking around, trying to toss Bomb off. Bomb is literally dangling above the ground thanks to Blood's superior height. She holds on tighter and clenches her eyes shut.

"Keep fighting, I'm not letting g-go!" She cries out in pain as Blood slams her against the wall. She keeps this up continuously but Bomb valiantly hangs on. Blood's eyes widen and she begins trembling as a tingly feeling begins running through her body.

"Let me go! Let me go now! No I don't wanna die! Let me go!" She thrashes around, slams Bomb against the wall, fires off energy balls and her eyebeams randomly, anything to get Bomb off her. The tingling feeling has become very powerful, making Blood continue to freak out more and more. She slams Bomb against the ground as her trashing begins to tire her out.

"Blood…g-g-gonna go…boom," Bomb weakly manages to stutter out through her immense pain. She begins focusing, but at that moment a maroon light surrounds them. Bomb's eyes widen and she jerks free from Blood. The energy she'd forced into Blood to make her explode comes back and goes off inside Bomb, knocking the wind out of her, giving her indigestion, and making her heart stop for a brief moment. Bomb coughs and sucks air back into her lungs desperately as Blood rises. There are tears in Blood's eyes, which she violently wipes away. She kicks Bomb in the side, making her roll across the ground.

"You…I'll make you…I'll make you pay…" Blood walks through the cutting wind Battle fires at her and grabs Bomb's hair. She picks her up and begins slamming her face against the wall. She throws her across the room and flies at her, even with Battle flying after her and firing attack after attack at her. While this is happening Blossom and Buttercup have rushed to Bubbles aid…but the three are having about as much trouble with Blitz as they were with Blood…

_Elsewhere_

Belial hiccups and shakes her head, trying to get the stinging tears out of her eyes. Even after nearly an hour since her sisters had left, she still can't stop crying, wishing they'd come back and help her. But at the same time, Belial can't deny the fact that she deserved what she got. But now…she suffered enough for what she did right? She didn't deserve this forever, she paid for her crimes…but she is going to have to keep paying for them forever.

"This isn't fair…I just want my daddy…I wanna go home…" She begins crying again, even after crying so much lately she still hates herself for it. She gulps and jerks up straight when the door creaks open. She fearfully glances at the door, gulping when she sees it's Blaze standing there. Blaze looks very nervous for some reason, which Belial happens to notice. Blaze shuts the door and leans against it, staring at the ground. Belial shakes her head again, trying to get rid of the tears. Blaze gulps and glances at Belial, then looks away.

"…H-H-Hi B-Belial…" she mumbles out. Belial gives her a confused look if anything Belial should be the nervous one, as helpless as she is right now. Blaze gulps again and sits down next to Belial, making Belial jerk away from her. Blaze jumps and glances at Belial, then looks away again. "Um…h-h-how're you d-d-doing?" Belial is confused, but quickly becomes angry and glares at her.

"How do you think I'm doing? I'm living in my own personal Hell!" Blaze looks down, becoming confused.

"…B-but don't you like being tickled?" she asks. Belial trembles and clenches her eyes shut while feeling herself about to cry again.

"Of course not! It makes me feel weak, powerless, and inferior! I can't stand not being in control…and I lose my p-powers…I can't stand it…I'd rather die and burn in the lake of fire then stay here and go through this forever! How could anyone possibly like this!" Blaze's eyes water as she stares at the ground.

"…I like it…I…I wish I was in your place right now…" Belial looks at her like Blaze has just grown six more heads and ten horns. Blaze blushes and looks away from her, glancing back every now and then, but always looking away as soon as she does.

"…Why are you here? Why don't you just tickle me and leave so I can go back to wishing I wasn't here…" says Belial venomously. Blaze gulps and continues to look away.

"I…j-just…I…I needed to talk to you…"

"Why? You need to talk with your torture toys to make you feel better about yourself?" Blaze gulps and rubs her eyes, which are filling with tears fast.

"No…I…I really…I…just…I like…I like you…" Belial looks at her confused, which Blaze misinterprets as disgust and begins freaking out. "I mean…I like you like you…but I know it's really gross, because we're cousins and we're both girls, but I can't help it and I really really just wanted to be here and talk to you but I know you're probably grossed out and I'm sorry but I just had to tell you and I can't hide it anymore and I'm really sorry, please don't hate me!" Belial carefully goes through what Blaze had just said at lightning speed, managing to pick out the important parts.

"…You like me? I thought you hated me…everyone hates me…" she says plainly, like she's just stating a scientific fact. Blaze blushes and fumbles around with her hands nervously.

"I don't hate you…I think you're really pretty…and you're a lot of fun, even though we **were** fighting each other, I thought it was fun…I'm sorry I helped them bring you here…I thought you'd…I thought you were like me…and you'd like being stuck here…" Belial snorts and looks away, glaring at the opposite wall. She hears something jingle, but doesn't give it a second thought until her arms fall and land on her lap. She stares at her hands and glances at Blaze, who is blushing as she also undoes the cuffs on Belial's ankles. Belial jerks her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. Blaze sits on the other end of the chair, blushing and staring at the ground nervously.

"…So…why are you here? Shouldn't you be helping your sisters fight the Powerpuff Girls and my sisters?" Blaze looks at her blankly, confused out of her mind now.

"Wh…What are you talking about? No one is here…" she asks confused. Belial becomes confused now, glancing around the room for her shoes and socks.

"Didn't they tell you? There hasn't been an announcement or anything?" Blaze shakes her head, which confuses Belial more, "but…they're here to kill Leviathan, surely he'd have everyone ready to kill them first…" Blaze's eyes widen.

"Kill Daddy? Is that even possible?" Belial shrugs and stares at Blaze.

"I think it is…but if they want to try…I have to help them…maybe I can make up for being a royal bitch my whole life." Blaze gulps and scoots a tiny bit closer to Belial.

"You shouldn't say stuff like that…" Belial snorts and looks away, but finds her gaze drifting back to Blaze, who still seems to think the ground is the most interesting thing ever.

"Why not? It's true…all over something so stupid like being tickled I killed my relationship with my sisters," Blaze looks up and glances at Belial, this time not quickly averting her gaze.

"…But…" Belial feels her powers coming back enough and quickly flies and gathers her footwear, putting them on quickly and tying her shoes extra tight. "Belial…you can't fight them…we all got st…oh yeah!" She fumbles around and finds the black marble she'd taken from Leviathan and holds it out. "Hold this and it'll make you a bunch stronger!" Belial gives her a funny look, but carefully takes the marble from her. When she can think next she is on the ground with Blaze leaning over her nervously.

"B-Belial? Are you okay?" Blaze asks nervously. She sits up and looks down at her hands.

"Yeah…I'm great! Now I have to go, if you show up don't think I won't have a little fun with you for getting in my way," Belial winks at Blaze with a little grin. Blaze blushes deep crimson and looks away. Belial climbs to her feet and holds out her hand. Blaze stares at it, then looks up and stares at Belial's once more confident expression. "So you coming with me or not?" Blaze blushes again and nervously takes Belial's hand.

_The Black Sanctuary_

Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Battle, and Bomb are all hurting badly from this fight. Blitz is in almost perfect condition, while Blood could stand to be a little better. Bomb and Battle are busy trying to take down Blood while the puffs are working on Blitz. Bomb and Battle have gotten into their usual groove and have Blood on the ropes trying to keep up with them. She growls and jerks around firing beams of maroon energy at them, which the two dodge and duck away from firing back at her with as much force as they can. Blood manages to get almost close enough to grab Bomb; just then a Starburst Beam slams into Blood knocking her away from Bomb. At that moment, Bubbles and Blossom join Bomb and Battle, and again the four of them are once more knocking Blood around mercilessly.

Blitz slaps Buttercup away and growls, blasting the four with black lightning. She lifts her hands above her and a massive black energy ball crackling with lightning appears and begins growing. It reaches high into the darkness above them, growing without end.

"Th-That can't be good…" says Buttercup as the five back as far away as possible, ending up against the west wall. Blood is standing on the ground behind Blitz, laughing at the fear on the heroines' faces as Blitz continues to gather more power. There is an explosion as the doors blast open. A flash of violet goes by in front of Blitz. Blitz's eyes bulge, causing her to double over holding her stomach giggling like crazy. The ball begins falling out of the sky. Blitz's eyes widen, and she spins around managing to make the ball go off in the air. The explosion sends her crashing into the ground with some moderate damage. She gets up and looks around, trying to find her.

"Where are you! How did you get free!" She spins around and glares at Belial, who is glaring back with as much venom. Blitz charges at Belial and instantly the two are locked in a fierce struggle. Blitz clearly shows she is the stronger of the two, but Belial manages to keep up.

"Hey! Get rid of Blood while I keep her busy!" The other five stare at Belial dumbly. What they don't realize is that Belial wasn't talking to them. They hear a sound and turn to see Blood dodging waves of fire being shot by Blaze, who looks more scared than anything.

"What's going on?" asks Bubbles.

"Heck if I know, but let's just do what she said and get rid of Blood!" The five move out to join Blaze in taking out Blood. Belial crashes into Blaze knocking them both into the wall. The seven gather together, standing across from Blood and Blitz, who are boiling.

"Dammit! What are you doing Blaze? Help us kill them you little faggot!" Blaze gulps and looks away. Belial grins and puts her arm around Blaze's shoulders, tugging her closer and making Blaze blush bright red.

"She decided to help us kill you, so I hope you don't mind Cuz." Blood growls and Blitz glares at Blaze, who blushes and looks away. At that moment all of the lights go out. The nine girls all jump at the sudden action. Music begins playing, a song which is all too eerily familiar to Belial. Candles begin lighting up with blue fire around the hall, on both sides heading to the pentagram in the center. Flames light up all around it and a blood red light shoots up from the pentagram. Falling from the infinite darkness above them is a figure, who calmly floats down within the red light. His feet touch the ground, and the light fades, the music stops.

Beelzebub is now standing in the center of the sanctuary, the eyeholes on his mask burning like two blue flames.


	27. Past the Point of No Return

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs. I don't own any songs I happen to use in this.**

The Puffs and Dark Puffs stared back at Beelzebub, some in terror and some in confusion. To the Puffs, who had faced him before, there seemed to be something more terrifying about Beelzebub's power this time. He had been so easily thrashed by Him, but here he is standing across from them calm as can be. Maybe they aren't quite at Him's level as far as power goes, but they are certainly much more powerful than before, and this time there is seven of them. The numbers and odds and everything apparently didn't matter to Beelzebub though. With a flick of his wrist the music began once more, this time captivating all of them, leaving them nearly breathless.

"Passarino - go away! For the trap is set and waits for its prey," he sings as he motions towards Blitz. Blitz, against her will, steps away from Blood, shaking from being unable to control her movement. Beelzebub continues singing as he slowly approaches Blood. "You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent, silent..." He motions around him and fire rises along the walls. The room becomes darker, and at the same time everything remains perfectly visible. "I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge - in your mind you've already succumbed to me dropped all defenses completely succumbed to me - now you are here with me: no second thoughts, you've decided, decided..." He is now standing in front of Blood as he continues singing. He gently strokes her cheek, his mask's eyeholes flaring up and burning bright blue. "Past the point of no return - no backward glances: the games we've played till now are at an end..."

Beelzebub steps back and motions around them, the fire around them becoming bigger. His eyeholes still burning bright blue. "Past all thought of "if" or "when" - no use resisting: abandon thought, and let the dream descend..." He holds out his hand, the fire becoming massive and lighting the dark room. "What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us?" He runs a trail from one eyehole of his mask to his chin, like tracing a tear, then one more holds his hand out to Blood and continues singing. "Past the point of no return, the final threshold - what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return..."

While this entire time Beelzebub's eyeholes have begun to burn brighter and brighter Blood's have begun to fade, slowly becoming solid white. She finds herself unable to control her body, as she joins Beelzebub and begins singing where he left off.

"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence..." The fire around them begins creating a powerful wind, which manages to completely blow Blood's hair out of her pigtails. Outside her train of thought her body begins moving, walking slowly toward Beelzebub. "I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why… In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining defenseless and silent - and now I am here with you: no second thoughts, I've decided, decided…" Fire rises on either side of Blood and Beelzebub, looking like a bridge or a walkway, as Blood continues, without realizing it, walking toward him. "Past the point of no return -no going back now: our passion-play has now, at last, begun…" the fire around them rises up and burns more then settles back down. "Past all thought of right or wrong - one final question: how long should we two wait, before we're one?" Blood shivers and puts her hands to her chest as a warm, yet somehow cold, feeling rushes through her, "When will the blood begin to race the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us?"

Beelzebub walks to her, crossing the fairly large distance almost instantly. He takes Blood's hands in his own. She looks up into the burning eyeholes of his mask, which burn brighter, her eyes with just barely a hint of her orange irises. The two begin singing together as the fire closes behind Blood.

"Past the point of no return the final threshold -the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn…" Beelzebub strokes her cheek with one hand, the other still holding hers. Blood shivers at his gentle touch. "We've past the point of no return…" together they sing. Beelzebub leans down just enough to be at Blood's eye level. He cups her chin and lifts her hand up to his mask.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime." He begins singing as he runs her hand down the cheek of his mask, "Lead me, save me from my solitude…" he lets go of her hand which is now on his chest, "Say you want me with you, here beside you…" He reaches up and takes hold of the side of his mask. He slowly begins pulling, as bright blue light floods the room from underneath, "Anywhere you go let me go too…" He moves his hand down to the chin of his mask and lifts it up, releasing bright blue light throughout the entire room, "That's all I ask of…" he doesn't finish, but instead presses his lips against Blood's. The blue light surrounding them is suddenly filled with maroon light. He breaks off the kiss and puts his mask back in place as Blood slumps to the ground unmoving.

At that moment everything snaps and whatever spell the others had been under is broken. Blitz is the first to react by running to Blood and shaking her.

"Blood? Blood! Blood wake up!" Blitz shakes Blood a bit more, but she doesn't move. She is breathing…though it is very shallow and faint. Beelzebub adjusts his mask and laughs a little.

"Don't sound so desperate, she's still alive." Blitz looks up at him, tears in her eyes and shaking with fury.

"What did you do to her?" Beelzebub brushes off his armor and fixes his hair.

"Simply completed the cycle my dear. She stole their life-force, I stole hers," He holds out his hand and a force slams into Blitz sending her skidding backward. She looks up and shrieks when she sees Beelzebub put his foot on Blood's neck.

"Don't! You said she's still alive!" Blitz screams frantically. Beelzebub looks at her; the eyeholes in his mask stop burning. He laughs and they begin burning blue once more.

"Well I'll just have to fix that." He pushes down hard and in a second a sickening crack fills the room. He looks up at Blitz and begins laughing once more. Blitz stares at Blood and continues crying. She angrily wipes the tears out of her eyes, but more quickly take their place. She stands up, staring at Beelzebub with hatred the likes of which she'd never felt before. She wipes her eyes again, but ends up with the same result. Beelzebub stops laughing and shrugs.

"What's wrong dear? Was there something you needed to tell her before I killed her?" Blitz's eyes widen, staring into the burning lights of the mask's eyeholes. She screams and throws herself at him. Beelzebub simply tilts his head avoiding her initial attack. Each one that follows is avoided just as easily as the first. He takes a step back, which Blitz follows and continues attacking him with savage fury. Beelzebub passes through her with her next attack and solidifies behind her. Blitz spins around and kicks him in the side of the head. In her fury she doesn't register that Beelzebub doesn't budge in the least when her leg connects with his head. The other girls do notice this and at that moment realize Blitz is fighting a battle she's already lost.

"My, my, are you angry darling?" asks Beelzebub, turning to face her. Blitz growls and throws a punch at him. Beelzebub jumps and avoids it. Blitz follows him and throws another punch, which Beelzebub vanishes dodging. He reappears a few feet away, so Blitz flies at him and attacks him again. He vanishes again, appearing upside down a few feet away. Both vanish at the same time and explosions begin filling the cathedral.

Blitz and Beelzebub reappear in the center. Beelzebub is easily holding Blitz's fist, while her arm is shaking from trying to overpower him. The two vanish again, reappearing a few minutes later. This time Blitz is rapidly kicking Beelzebub, who is holding up an arm blocking each kick. They vanish again and every time they reappear they are in a similar situation. No matter how hard Blitz tries Beelzebub is easily avoiding or blocking every attack Blitz throws at him.

Beelzebub appears on the ground staring up at the ceiling. Blitz appears a few moments later, quickly gathering a giant ball of dark matter. She throws it at him, which he makes no attempt to avoid. The ball slams into him, which the others think may have actually done some kind of damage to him. Moments later the ball is lifted into the air, Beelzebub holding it up with one hand. He flicks his wrist and it goes flying back at Blitz, who vanishes. The ball explodes high above them as black lightning bolts begin firing down from the darkness above them. Beelzebub vanishes and reappears, avoiding every bolt flung at him.

Blitz falls from the sky and throws a punch at Beelzebub. He catches her fist, as lightning and darkness erupts around the two of them. Blitz jerks her hand back and spins around to kick him. Beelzebub grabs her leg and flings her across the room. Blitz hits the wall hard and stumbles to her feet dizzily. She shakes her head just in time to receive a backhand from Beelzebub knocking her off her feet and sending her a few yards back. Blitz spins and shakily lands on her feet. She holds her head while the world spins around her. When it stops spinning she is staring at Beelzebub. She punches at him, but he grabs her arm and twists it around behind her back. She chokes trying to suck air into her lungs from the pain. Her hand is nearly touching the back of her head now, her eyes bulging in pain.

"This has been fun, but you're becoming boring. Don't worry, you'll join your sister in the Lake of Fire, then you can tell her your feelings while you're both tortured for all eternity, sound fun?" Blitz screams and jerks away from Beelzebub. She throws a punch at him, but he vanishes easily before she hits him. She looks up and fires her eyebeams at him. Beelzebub chuckles and fires back his own blue eyebeams, which consume Blitz's and drive her into the ground. She pushes herself up, her arms shaking under the pressure. Beelzebub appears in front of her.

"Cute, she's still trying to kill me." Blitz growls and throws a punch at Beelzebub. He catches her fist and the eyeholes in his mask begin burning brighter. "I don't like you enough to sing with you, we'll cut to the chase," he lifts his mask from the bottom, flooding the room with bright blue light, then jerks Blitz forward and presses his lips against hers. The blue light surrounds them and fills with black, streaming from Blitz into Beelzebub. The light flashes outward and Blitz falls to the ground unmoving. Beelzebub replaces his mask, before the other girls can see his face. He lifts his foot and slowly presses it down on Blitz's head. The sound of the bone snapping and cracking fills the room until Beelzebub gives a swift thrust downward. He wipes his boot off on the ground, staining it dark red. He then turns to the shaking heroes.

"I apologize for the wait, but I believe we're ready to begin," He begins laughing. Buttercup glances at Blossom and Bubbles. Bubbles is covering her mouth, eyes watering. Blossom is staring in disbelief, shaking her head slowly. Buttercup glances over at Bomb and Battle who are both shaking. She then looks over at Belial and Blaze. Blaze is crying staring at her sisters' bodies, while Belial is staring at Beelzebub with a strange far-away look in her eyes. Buttercup gulps and looks back at Beelzebub. Apparently things just went from bad to worse…


	28. Angel of Music

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Blaze is the first to snap out of the tangible stupor all seven of the girls have been left in upon Blood and Blitz's deaths at the hands of Beelzebub. Still crying hysterically, she shakily finds her voice.

"Why…WHY DID YOU DO THIS!" She screams at him, her voice cracking. Beelzebub chuckles and bursts into hysterical laughter. This just fuels the fire in Blaze, making her cry harder. "Stop laughing! How could you do this! WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?" she screams again. Her screaming has snapped the others out of their individual dazes. Belial nervously puts her arm around Blaze's shoulders. Blaze collapses against her sobbing uncontrollably.

"You work for Leviathan…why did you kill them, that can't be what he wanted!" says Buttercup. Beelzebub stops laughing and shakes his head.

"You poor deluded girls. You simply have no idea what you are up against. You think I'm just the annoying henchman you have to get through to stop the crime lord…well I'll let you in on a little secret. **Leviathan is now the least of your worries.**" The girls are taken back by the change of his tone. He is being completely serious…Beelzebub really thinks he is a bigger threat to them then Leviathan.

"What are y-you talking about you m-monster…?" asks Battle shakily. Beelzebub tightens his gloves; the eyeholes in his mask begin burning once more.

"I mean exactly what I'm saying. You should stop worrying about fighting Leviathan." He says coolly. Blaze pulls away from Belial's comforting (though awkward to Belial) embrace and glares at him.

"Shut up! You're just a stupid soldier! You're nothing compared to Daddy!" Beelzebub bursts into hysterical laughter when Blaze finishes screaming. The girls are all very confused…and slowly becoming more and more terrified. Belial hugs Blaze again, keeping her from screaming at Beelzebub a fourth time. She hasn't said a word yet, she's too busy staring at Beelzebub…fearing the worse…knowing for some reason, that deep in her heart what he's saying is completely true.

"What do you think you are? Leviathan is the most powerful demon in the entire…" Blossom begins to say. She is cut off by Beelzebub's condescending laughter. He shakes his head and crosses his arms.

"Poor deluded children…unable to see beyond the veil of reality. Leviathan and I differ greatly. I am just an Omega Class demon and he is the second Shimekiri. Logic dictates that he should forever be my superior…" he begins laughing again, "But where **he **is concerned, logic holds no meaning. **He** says what is fact and what is fantasy. **He** governs every thought, every decision, every ripple in the stream of time." The girls become more confused now.

"What are you talking about? Leviathan?" asks Bubbles. Beelzebub snorts and turns around, walking to the center of the pentagram on the floor.

"Don't walk away from us!" screams Blaze, the fire within her slowly growing. Belial again hugs her in an attempt to calm her down, but she's lost in her own little world where there is only Beelzebub…for some reason. Beelzebub turns around and faces them. He laughs a little and his eyeholes stop burning.

"Because of the nature of the Shimekiri, Leviathan may seem invincible…but he is limited. **Fate** dictates that every Shimekiri _must_ be able to die. Leviathan is forever bound by his limit. I suffer no such restriction. I…am **endless**." Beelzebub laughs again the lights flickering in the cathedral. The girls move closer together, drawing the strength and courage to keep going in the face of what is quickly becoming a darker nightmare than they could ever dream. Bomb gulps and finds her voice.

"What are you t-talking about? Fate? You mean like destiny or something like that?" she asks nervously. Beelzebub sneers and holds his hands out, black winds whipping around them all.

"No kid…**Fate**…the essence that commands all of time and space. The being that commands history itself. Destiny is simply an unavoidable action toward **Fate**'s ultimate goal. Every move you make, every morning you wake up again, every step you continue taking, it is all by the will of **Fate**." Beelzebub laughs, "and I am merely the Messenger of **Fate**. Everything I do, I do in **His** name." The girls are quickly becoming more and more terrified. The wind in the room is filling everything with unholy screams and cries. "It is **Fate** who commands me, not Leviathan. I no longer need Leviathan for my needs. Once I have finished with you, **Fate**'s work will be done, and Leviathan _will_ die." He stretches out his arms and a blue light fills every gap, every inch of the cathedral. The light explodes and fades away, leaving them all feeling somewhat different.

"What…what did you d-do?" asks Bubbles. Beelzebub floats into the air, still holding out his hands. His beautiful voice invades their ears as he sings once more.

"**I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne. To this kingdom where all must pay homage to music…music! You have come here for one purpose and one alone. From the moment I first came awake, I have needed you with me to fight me to die…by my music…my music!"**

Everything around them quakes and rumbles as the blue light enveloping Beelzebub explodes outward, releasing the full potential of his fearsome power. He floats down to the floor and begins laughing once more. Blaze glares, growling deep in her throat as the flame becomes larger. Belial hugs her protectively, feeling unimaginable terror welling up in her.

"What can we do? He easily killed Blitz and Blood…" asks Blossom.

"M-maybe we could tickle him?" suggests Battle softly.

"We don't even know if he's ticklish…" begins Buttercup, but Belial cuts her off.

"Not like us, but he is. The only problem is we'll never get the chance to exploit it. Its all his upper body and there's no way he's going to let us get the chance to try." She explains. The girls gulp and take a step back from Beelzebub. All except Blaze, who tugs against Belial as the flame explodes, becoming a raging inferno. She screams and is engulfed by blue-white fire that sends Belial crashing into the wall. The light fades and once more Blaze has gone nuclear, her eyes simply two balls of blue-white fires.

The Bomb, Battle, and Belial are all shocked immensely by Blaze's sudden transformation. The puffs; however, begin feeling hopeful that they'll make it out alive…when she went crazy like this Blaze become so much more powerful it wasn't funny. She screams again and in a flash of fire she is in front of Beelzebub throwing a punch at him. Beelzebub dodges and throws a kick at her. To everyone's amazement Blaze manages to block the kick, though it is very clear she's struggling. Beelzebub spins around and kicks her in the face, sending her flying off her feet. Blaze's eyes snap open and before Beelzebub's follow up assault hits her she vanishes in a flash of fire.

Beelzebub turns and throws a punch. Blaze appears, holding Beelzebub's fist trying her hardest to hold it back. Beelzebub jerks her forward, and punches her across the face. Before she hits the ground, Blaze is gone in another flash of fire, once more attacking Beelzebub. The other girls watch this with a sickening feeling of horror. Belial is still sitting against the wall staring at Blaze and Beelzebub. Beelzebub hits Blaze hard in the face, knocking her back against the wall. He then holds up his hand, unholy blue light gathering right in front of Blaze's face. At that moment Belial finally snaps out of her daze and stumbles to her feet.

"Don't just stand there, let's help her!" she yells at the others before lunging at Beelzebub. Her fist collides with the side of his mask, making him turn to her. He punches her hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs and driving her to the ground.

"…Don't think I'll go easy on you Belial," he says before kicking her in the face. Belial slides across the ground and sits up shakily. She spits out some blood and wipes her mouth. She stumbles to her feet, just to double over once again coughing up blood when Beelzebub's fist crashes into her stomach. She falls to the ground holding her stomach. Beelzebub begins gathering his unholy blue energy to finish her off. Blaze rams into Beelzebub from the side, making him discharge his energy. He turns to backhand her, only to be assaulted by a barrage of explosive energy balls. He steps back, then looks down as fire explodes up from the ground at his feet. He puts his arms down from his face as it fades away.

Buttercup appears in front of him and begins punching him rapidly and powerfully in the chest. Beelzebub chuckles and knees her in the stomach, knocking her into the air. He grabs her by her throat and throws her into Battle. Bomb throws more explosion balls at him, which Beelzebub walks through as Blaze fires a massive wall of blue-white fire at him. He stops and spreads his arms out, creating a blue dome of energy around him. It explodes outward, knocking all of the girls to the ground.

Blaze gets up and growls, the fire around her burning brighter than ever. She gasps, the fire fizzling slightly as she watches Beelzebub easily thrash Belial, who is desperately trying to find some way to hurt the singing psycho. Bubbles fires a massive blast of lightning at Beelzebub, who becomes transparent and easily avoids it. He solidifies near Buttercup and rams her against the wall. Buttercup growls and a bunch of giant, thorny roots shoot from the ground and try to tear Beelzebub away from Buttercup. While this is happening, Blossom fires her eyebeams at Beelzebub's back. Bubbles joins her and soon both are joined by Bomb and Battle. Blaze flies to Belial's side and gently helps her up, the fire around Blaze not harming Belial probably due to Blaze not wanting it to. The two stand up and add their eyebeams to the others. Beelzebub throws Buttercup across the cathedral into her sisters. Then in a massive burst of blue fires his own eyebeams, which easily rip through the four combined eyebeams and hit Battle and Bomb.

Blaze and Belial stop firing theirs and regroup with the others. Blaze's fire hasn't died out, even though it appears she now has some kind of control in this form. The girls all stand weakly, running on their last reserves against this monster.

"Okay…that didn't work…maybe if we all attack him independently but at the same time?" suggests Blossom. The others nod and quickly the seven vanish. Beelzebub laughs to himself and runs his hand across his mask. In seconds he is dodging and blocking the attacks of all seven girls. Battle and Bomb join together their attacks, hitting him with a swirling vortex, which pulls him into a massive explosion. Beelzebub runs through the smoke and drives them both to the ground by driving his fists into their stomachs. He pushes them over and jumps over a Starburst Ray fired by the puffs, which tears open the ground as it goes flying through.

"You really don't think you can beat me do you?" asks Beelzebub as he turns around. His eyeholes begin shining bright blue as a fist smashes into his mask. He slaps Blaze away, holding his mask. He floats to the ground and moves his hand revealing a long crack running across the left eyehole. He growls and clenches his fists, the eyeholes burning brighter. He grabs his mask and laughs.

"Well girls…I can't let this ruined mask hide my beautiful face any longer. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, I'd like you capable of still fighting back" He pulls his mask off, blue light completely flooding the entire room. The girls look into the light, not knowing what to expect…what they do see is the last thing any of them expected. The light fades…revealing the face of the monster at long last.

They had all been expecting something...something that would terrify them or take their breath away. Beelzebub's face certainly took their breath away…but for a completely different reason. His perfectly smooth skin, perfectly chiseled features, in every way his face is perfectly handsome and beautiful. His most captivating feature is his eyes; two orbs of crystalline blue, shining with beauty and power. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup find themselves immobilized by infatuation at the very sight of Beelzebub's handsome visage. The remaining Darkpuffs; however, are somewhat protected due to a few important life choices they have made. Beelzebub chuckles, the Puffs watching him closely and intently.

"Not what you expected…am I?" The heroines all struggle to reclaim their voices as Beelzebub bursts into psychotic laughter. "Now that the beast has been unmasked…let the battle resume," He vanishes, crossing the distance between them almost instantly. His fists are driven into Bubbles and Buttercup's stomachs, knocking the wind out of them. He laughs and jumps firing his eyebeams at the Puffs, driving them against the wall. He is blasted by several energy bombs from Bomb, accompanied by waves of blue-white fire from Blaze, Belial's eyebeams and cutting bursts of wind from Battle. He stops and turns to them, grinning through the pain.

"This is hopeless! He's just too strong!" says Battle over the roar of the tornadoes she's creating.

"We have to keep trying! We still have Leviathan to deal with when we're done with him!" yells back Bomb. The girls look up and shriek when Beelzebub punches Belial across the face, sending her spiraling backward. He spins and kicks Blaze's legs out from under her, then grabs her and throws her into Bomb. While the two are falling, Battle runs up and catches them, just as several beams of blue energy crash into them. Beelzebub laughs and lifts his hand, firing off a massive ball of blue energy right in front of Bubbles, who had been charging at him. She screams as it rips into her skin before sending her flying away. Beelzebub shifts back and begins dodging and blocking Blossom and Buttercup's combined assault.

Blaze, Bomb and Battle stumble to their feet. Blaze immediately runs to Belial and helps her up, while Bomb and Battle join Blossom and Buttercup against Beelzebub. Beelzebub grabs Buttercup's leg when she kicks at him then swings her into Bomb, throwing them both back. They get up and are on him again, trying desperately to win a battle it seems they've already lost. Beelzebub bursts into hysterical laughter and jumps into the air. He takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. The girls all look up, and shriek in disgust as millions upon millions of flies, each the size of a baseball, fly out of Beelzebub's mouth.

The flies instantly attack the girls, tearing at them with their venomous, sharp teeth. A hoard of them manages to drive Battle to the ground, screaming hysterically as they slowly and painfully tear her apart. Belial knocks several of the flies attacking Battle away, blasting several more with her eyebeams. Before she can finish saving Battle; however, a massive wave of flies hits her and knocks her to the ground. Bomb screams and releases a massive explosion, vaporizing the flies attacking her. She runs to Battle and does the same, killing several of the flies by brushing them with her hands and releasing the explosive energy in them. Soon Battle is saved, though she is bleeding moderately from the attacks. Bomb helps her up, and hugs her tightly. Battle gulps and hugs Bomb back, cherishing the feeling of being in Bomb's arms, despite the nightmare around them. Bomb draws back and pecks Battle on the cheek, before rushing off to help the others. Battle holds her cheek and smiles, and then screams when Beelzebub begins laughing high above them.

Bubbles bursts into flames and releases a dome of fire around her that manages to incinerate the flies. She breathes heavily, wiping some of the blood out of her eyes, or attempting to, but the blood on her arm just makes it worse. She shakes her head then runs to her sisters' aid. Buttercup is handling the situation the best of the seven of them, though it is clear she's having a hard time killing the thousands of flies attacking her. She lifts her hands and a massive pillar of green energy erupts from the ground around her. She puts them down and falls to her knees panting. Bubbles kneels next to her and puts her arm around her shoulders. Buttercup gives her a thumbs up, before the two turn to see the bulk of the flies focused on Blossom…Beelzebub probably commanded them to attack her to try to kill off the "brains" of their little super team. The two quickly begin slaughtering the flies attacking their sister, though it seems like an endless process.

Blaze is screaming hysterically, doing absolutely nothing to fight back against the hoard of flies attacking her. The pain…coupled with her innate fear of insects due to quite a number of pranks pulled on her by her sisters prevents her from reacting. Bomb and Battle arrive and manage to fight off the flies, mostly thanks to Bomb's explosion powers. Blaze continues lying on the ground crying. Bomb hears Belial scream, but chooses to ignore it and instead kneels down beside Blaze awkwardly with Battle.

"Hey Blaze…are you okay? C'mon we killed the flies so help us beat Beelzewhatever," says Bomb. Blaze hiccups and opens her eyes, wiping away some of the blood which has covered them. She sits up, holding herself painfully. Battle wipes away some more of the blood on Blaze's face and smiles. The two get up and rush over to Bubbles and Buttercup to help them. Belial screams again, which snaps Blaze out of her terrified state. She weakly stumbles to her feet and gulps, nervously running over to Belial, but too terrified to do anything to save her. Belial blasts a few flies with her eyebeams, but when they try to attack her eyes she quickly closes them to prevent that particular injury. She falls to the ground, still swatting and blasting at the flies, but she just manages to anger them and make them attack her more. Blaze gulps and nervously raises her hands to fire at them. At that time a fly rams into her and begins biting her. Blaze freaks out and begins screaming. The blue-white fire around her erupts and explodes outward, filling the entire cathedral. The light fades away, revealing an infinite number of ash piles that used to be flies. Blaze is on the ground panting and crying. She feels someone touch her on the shoulder and shrieks. She looks up and sees Belial, who slumps forward and lands on Blaze's lap. Blaze pants and shakes her.

"Bel-Belial…Belial are you okay!" Belial groans and pushes herself up. She looks at Blaze and nods then slowly falls back into a sitting position. In truth, Belial is far from okay, she is still pulling her punches a great deal due to the strange feeling she has just looking at Beelzebub. A sort of déjà vu feeling that keeps her from attacking him with everything she's got. The others are already locked in combat with Beelzebub once more, who is finding sadistic pleasure in puffing out a fly every time one of them hits him. This of course has led to a great number of flies being produced, which manage to cause some harm before they are destroyed. Belial stands up and helps Blaze up. She looks down and laughs a little, hugging Blaze.

"Bl-Blaze…you k-kinda lost your shoes somewhere in here…" Blaze giggles a little and hugs Belial back.

"I know…I'll f-find them wh-when this is over…" Before the two can finish this brief moment of togetherness, a blue light explodes in front of them. Belial pushes herself up and stares at Beelzebub's boots. She looks up and sees him holding Blaze by the neck. Blaze is struggling with all of her might, doing everything she can to get away from him, but Beelzebub's hold doesn't waver in the least. His deep blue eyes are locked with Belial's pale blue ones…the tension between them becoming thicker and thicker. Beelzebub chuckles and looks at Blaze, a frightening look in his eyes. Once more, as if out of nowhere music begins playing.

"Order your fine horses now! Raise up your hand to the level of your eyes! Nothing can save you now except perhaps Belial!" he stops singing and turns to Belial, the look in his eyes so terrifyingly familiar to her. Beelzebub goes back to singing, "Start your new life with me, buy her freedom with your love! Refuse me and you send your lover to her grave, this is the choice- **this is the point of no return!**" Belial stares at him in horror, trying to comprehend what he's asking her. Blaze tugs at his hand, but can't make even his arm waver.

"Belial forgive me…p-p-please forgive me, I just want you…it's all or nothing…" Beelzebub once more begins singing, glaring at Belial with a sadistic grin.

"Past all hope of cries for help, no point in fighting!" he sings. Blaze is crying now barely able to speak through the pain and the tears.

"Belial, either way…either way you choose he has to win!" she whispers out, her voice carrying over the music and Beelzebub's singing oddly.

"For either way you choose, you cannot win! So do you spend your days with me, or do you send her to her **grave!**" He tightens his hold on Blaze's neck while singing. Blaze cries harder and tries to escape more.

"Don't make her lie to you to save me!" she begs him. Beelzebub laughs and continues singing.

"Past the point of no return, the final threshold! Her life is now the prize, which you must earn! You've passed the point of no return," he sings to Belial. Belial stares at the ground, tears well up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. She hiccups and grits her teeth as she begins crying. She blinks and shakes her head, then without realizing it begins singing to herself.

"Pitiful c-creature of darkness…what k-k-kind of life have I known? D-D-Dad g-give me courage to show him…" she looks up at Beelzebub, still crying, "…I won't…I won't be alone!" She jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around Beelzebub's neck, pressing her lips hard against his. Beelzebub's eyes widen and he instantly drops Blaze as Belial continues to shove him backward with the fierce kiss, despite having to stand on her tiptoes to reach his level. Beelzebub slowly closes his eyes and returns the kiss, leaving his arms at his side. Blaze stares at the two, panting and crying.

"B-Belial…Belial d-d-don't…Belial please don't…l-leave-" she blinks when Belial opens one eye and looks at her. Belial winks and closes her eyes. Then in an instant she jerks back and swings around, jerking her arms upward and getting Beelzebub in an arm lock. Before he can react she leans backward until his feet are off the ground. Beelzebub jerks and thrashes, trying to get out of Belial's hold.

"What are you doing! **Let me go NOW!**" He snarls at her. Belial grits her teeth against the pain of his armor scraping against the wounds she received from the flies.

"What are you waiting for? BLAST HIM!" she screams at the others. The puffs blink in disbelief, but take Belial's words to heart and fire their Mega Bomb at Beelzebub. Battle and Bomb press against each other and fire out a swirling tornado of pure explosive energy. Blaze stumbles backward and fires a massive wave of blue-white fire at him, which hits him first and has no effect while it continues to pound on him.

"This is **pointless!** I can't be hurt by-" Beelzebub snickers and jerks his head to the side. Belial grins against the pain and begins tickling his neck with her other hand, making him jerk his head the other way. "What are you d-do-doing! If I d-die you will too!" he chuckles and snickers, unable to concentrate.

"Yeah…well that's just something I'll have to live with. I'll be back here anyway, at least Blaze can visit me." She continues tickling his neck, gritting her teeth against the growing pain. Soon the Mega Bomb slams into him, followed by Battle and Bomb's attack. Belial screams and Beelzebub roars, a massive explosion filling the entire cathedral…the blinding light hiding the aftermath of Belial's desperate plan.


	29. The Lord of Flies

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs. As usual, any songs I use I don't own. When someone is singing the song lyrics will be _blah_. **

The blinding light slowly began fading. The girls watched with growing apprehension, praying to every higher power they could think of that Beelzebub is dead and Belial is okay…well that second part was almost entirely Blaze hoping. The light finally fades away. Belial is lying on the ground covered in blood, and Beelzebub…Beelzebub's armor has been destroyed, but other than that he is completely unharmed. He throws the useless remains of his armor to the ground, completely revealing his insanely fit and tone body. Once more Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup feel their faces heat up and their bodies stop functioning. Blaze screams and stares at Belial.

"BELIAL!" Beelzebub looks down at her and rolls her over onto her back with his foot. He sneers and turns to the other girls. He glares at them, then begins softly laughing. Soon his laugh bursts into a hysterical forte.

"Did you really think I'd die so easily? You're all pathetic **insects** compared to me." The Puffs are snapped from their stupor, and quickly become terrified at the horrifying truth. They'd never had any hope of stopping Beelzebub; he is just far too powerful.

"W-w-what a-are yo-you?" Blossom asks nervously. Beelzebub grins and takes off his gloves, throwing them to the ground.

"I…am the Angel of Music, Ba'alzebub. The unholy Prince of Demons. I am the Lord of Flies, the highest of the angels who fell. I am the Messenger of **Fate**. Years ago, in the days of the Omniverse, together, myself and another Omega Class demon conceived a child…it is being nurtured in the Red Sea, and when the time comes it will rise in triumph!" The black wind has once more began howling in the cathedral. Beelzebub laughs and brushes his hair back.

"Now…**Fate**'s work shall be done…Leviathan _will_ die…and I will open up the gates of Hell, turning this and every other world into a never ending **nightmare!**" Beelzebub crosses the distance with the heroes instantly and punches Buttercup in the stomach, knocking her into the air. While she's in the air, Blossom and Bomb try to attack Beelzebub. Beelzebub kicks Blossom in the stomach, then grabs Bomb's fist and swats her into Buttercup, knocking her into Blossom, who hits Bubbles and sends them all flying backward. He then throws Bomb into Battle, knocking them both to the ground. He turns and socks Blaze across the face, sending her flying back. He vanishes and appears above her, punching her in the stomach. He appears below her and knees her in the back, making her cry out in pain.

Blossom and Buttercup get up and fly off to help Blaze. Bubbles sits up and suddenly an image flashes through her head.

* * *

The girls leave the Temple of the Three. They look up and shriek, seeing Glyjametsu lying at the foot of the steps. There is a pool of blood surrounding him, and one of his swords is missing. They run to him, turning him over. They all gape at him; his chest has been completely torn open. He looks at them, his eyes distant, not there. He doesn't see Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Now he sees Sezu, Kisu, and Delu. 

"S-S-Sisters…be…careful…he's come back…the jester is back and this time…he's more powerful than ever…"Atma, Hyperion, and Guradia glow and shatter. The particles from Atma enter Buttercup, Hyperion's enter Bubbles, and Guradia's enter Blossom. Bubbles blinks and gasps. This time when Glyjametsu mutters his last words, it's still in the same language she can't understand, but a kind of voice over rings out over his words.

* * *

Bubbles sits on the ground holding her mouth. She shakes her head and rises shakily to her feet. She shrieks when Battle crashes into her. She helps her up and together the two fly back into the fray against Beelzebub. Beelzebub blasts them all away with a massive dome of blue energy. Then he stomps on Bubbles chest, making her cry in pain. He laughs and lifts his hand gathering a blue ball of energy. Bubbles' eyes widen when Glyjametsu's voice rings out in her mind. 

"When you face the Jester…I'll be there…"

Bubbles stares into Beelzebub's heartless blue eyes, her own eyes wide and full of fear. There is a whooshing sound, followed by a loud crack! Beelzebub stumbles back holding his shoulder. He looks up at Bubbles and stares in amazement. All of the other girls stare in amazement as well. Standing in front of Bubbles is a boy…about three inches taller than Beelzebub, appearing to be about in his early to mid teens. He has spiky red hair, and blue-green eyes. He is wearing a white t-shirt, specially made with two pairs of armholes. He has a brown poncho on over the t-shirt, hiding most of his body. He reaches and pulls off the poncho, revealing four arms. Beelzebub grins, but also unconsciously growls.

"You…what are you doing here? I killed you in the Sacred Realm." The Puffs all gasp and exclaim at the same time.

"GLYJA!" Glyja twirls his four stone swords and grins at Beelzebub.

"What can I say? Us deities just don't like staying dead. You really think I don't have the power to reincarnate myself?" Beelzebub crosses his arms and sneers at Glyja.

"It doesn't matter. I killed you before, and now I am infinite times stronger than I was then." Glyja grins and sheathes his swords.

"Yeah me too, cool huh?" Beelzebub growls a little. Glyja lifts up three of his arms, and red, blue, and green particles begin coming from Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup respectively. He clenches his hands around the particles and stretches. "Thanks for watchin' my swords girls, dunno what I'd do without you." The girls are all on their feet now, still staring in disbelief.

"I don't care how much stronger you've become, you can _never_ beat me Glyjametsu, I am **eternal!**" Glyja laughs and begins glowing with a black and white flame.

"Whatever you say Clown, I'm ready for round two if you are," Glyja's body flashes and once more he is standing almost ten feet tall, a mountain of muscles and might. Glyjametsu unsheathes his swords, which flash in a brilliant explosion of light, becoming Atma, Hyperion, Requiem, and Guradia. Beelzebub clenches his fist and begins glowing bright blue. His power breaks through the roof, as he increases to a point like never before.

"Now, I'll make sure you die for good!" Beelzebub crosses the distance and smashes his fist through the ground. He jumps back and avoids a swing from Glyjametsu. Soon the two are moving back and forth, trading blows and splitting the ground each time one connects with the other. Glyjametsu jumps back and swings Atma and Hyperion, sending waves of fire and spires of rock at Beelzebub. Beelzebub crosses his arms and blue light surrounds him, protecting him from the fire and rock. He uncrosses his arms and punches Glyjametsu in the stomach, driving the god to his knees. Glyjametsu swings Requiem and lands a powerful blow on Beelzebub's shoulder. Beelzebub stumbles to the side and kicks Glyjametsu in the face, sending him flying backward. Glyjametsu gets up and is quickly put on the defensive as Beelzebub rains a flurry of powerful punches on him.

"Wow…this is intense…" says Bomb, as the girls regroup to watch the fight. Bubbles shakes her head and watches with growing horror.

"No…he's…he's too weak, he can't beat Beelzebub on his own…" Blossom looks at her than back at the fight. Beelzebub seems to easily shrug off everything Glyjametsu hits him with, while Glyjametsu struggles to avoid and counter Beelzebub's attacks.

"What can we do? We're all completely helpless against him!" she says, feeling the hopelessness of the situation. The others all watch the fight, also feeling the same hopelessness, the total impossibility of stopping Beelzebub. Blaze has lost her nuclear state and is just regular Blaze again. She is shaking and gently rocking Belial trying to get her to wake up.

"Belial…please Belial don't be gone, please wake up!" Belial stirs weakly, gritting her teeth and hissing at the slightest movement. Blaze helps her into a sitting position and hugs her tightly. "Belial are you okay? I'm so sorry I hurt you…I didn't mean to…please don't hate me,"

"Nah…I'm…o-okay…j-just kinda sore…" Blaze continues crying and hugging Belial. Belial rests her head on Blaze's shoulder and moans in pain.

Beelzebub slams his fists down on Glyjametsu's neck, then appears while he's falling to the ground and kicks him across the face. Glyjametsu lands and weakly pushes himself up. His swords are scattered through the cathedral. He rolls to the side and lunges at Beelzebub, firing a ferocious four-armed assault at him. Beelzebub handles dodging four arms as easily as he would two. What he didn't expect is Glyjametsu tackling him. Glyjametsu begins smashing his fists into Beelzebub's face and arms. Beelzebub roars and blasts Glyjametsu off. He stumbles to his feet holding his nose, which is bleeding.

"My face…my beautiful face…**you ruined my face!**" Beelzebub explodes in a brilliant flash of unholy blue light. He continues glowing as in seconds he puts Glyjametsu in the middle of a fierce beating. Glyjametsu is flung around and pounded on like a rag doll. Glyjametsu slams into the ground then dives out of the way as Beelzebub's foot stomps down on the spot he'd been at, smashing open a small crater in the floor. Glyjametsu jumps up and vanishes with Beelzebub.

"What can we do to help him? We're nowhere near that strong…" asks Battle. Buttercup clenches her fists and growls.

"We're freaking goddesses! There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do! We were stronger than Glyjametsu in the past weren't we?" Blossom nods, suddenly realizing that little detail. If Glyjametsu is going head to head with Beelzebub, the three of them should be able to as well. But something is holding them back, keeping them from going all-out…

"I don't understand…we SHOULD be stronger than Glyjametsu right now…even if he came back a lot stronger. We've got our power plus all the power of the goddesses, we should be almost unstoppable…" Glyjametsu crashes into the five of them, knocking them all to the ground. He quickly gets up and is blasted back by Beelzebub. Beelzebub, grinning, grabs Buttercup by her throat and lifts her up. He stares into her eyes, his own suddenly becoming wide and shaking.

"You…I can see it now…you're the one…the Omnitrigger…" he tightens his grip, growling at her now. Buttercup begins gasping for breath…then suddenly her body begins glowing brightly. Beelzebub's eyes widen, so he tightens his grip, desperately trying to kill her. The other girls and Glyjametsu watch in horror. Blossom has begun glowing bright pink and Bubbles bright blue. Buttercup is now bright green. Suddenly the light blasts Beelzebub away from her. All three scream, as they become solid light, which all join together and become a searing blast of white light. The light slowly shapes and solidifies; creating a figure made of solid light that has all the features of the three Puffs. The light explodes outward and the final creation of the fused light is revealed. She is about Bubbles' height, with Blossom's build and Buttercup's hairstyle. Her hair is orange in the middle, blond on the left, and black on the right. Her eyes are a magnificent blue-green-pink color. She is only wearing a white tunic. Beelzebub gets to his feet and laughs.

"I was right…just what are you supposed to be?" The puff looks down at her hands, pondering that question herself. The answer enters her mind, bringing a smirk with the arrogance of ten Buttercups to her face.

"I am three become one, the goddess of earth, sky, space, and time. I am Trinity, and I am the one who will destroy you!" She vanishes in a burst of white light, her fist slamming into Beelzebub's stomach, causing him to lurch forward. He grins and throws a kick at her. Trinity vanishes and appears above him. Her fists slam down on his arm, which he has raised to block her attack. He grins and together the two and Glyjametsu vanish, sparking up the war once more.

Beelzebub dodges and blocks attacks thrown at him at a violent light speed by the two supreme deities. Glyjametsu notices his swords and quickly leaves to gather them. Trinity punches Beelzebub in the face, making him stumble back. Then she unloads a flurry of blows on his midsection, followed by a powerful uppercut. She then kicks him in the arm, making him lean to the side when he blocks it. At that time Glyjametsu appears above them and swings his four swords down at Beelzebub. Beelzebub blasts Trinity back with his eyebeams and jumps up, kneeing Glyjametsu hard in the stomach. He then grabs his hair and flings him into Trinity. The two untangle from each other and fire massive beams of pink-green-blue, and white-black energy at Beelzebub. Beelzebub laughs and crosses his arms. He thrusts them out and the unholy blue light surrounding him explodes outward and blocks the incoming attacks.

"Do you really think fused together you stand a chance against me? If anything you've just made killing you all an even quicker process!" Beelzebub vanishes and slams his fists into both Trinity and Glyjametsu's stomachs. The three vanish into thin, air, nothing but the galaxy shattering explosions caused by their fists colliding filling the entire cathedral.

The Darkpuffs remain gathered together far from the bulk of the showdown. Already the two deities and Beelzebub are fighting on a level that the Darkpuffs can't even begin to comprehend. If it weren't for the mystical properties of the cathedral this fight is taking place in, the entire universe would be tearing apart due to the ferocity of the battle.

"Wow…thi-this is so intense…I can't even see them…" comments Battle in a shaky voice. Bomb looks at her and fixes her glasses with shaky hands, amazed that they'd managed to survive the fight so far. Blaze still cradles Belial in her arms protectively. Belial is wide-awake, but at the same time doesn't seem to be conscious of the events going on around them. Instead she can see images of memories she's never had flashing through her mind. Images of death, destruction, forbidden love, and a monster…a walking corpse of a demon. Those images fill her every thought as she continues lying in Blaze's warm embrace.

"M-m…m-m…music…" she whispers out, slowly coming back into reality. Blaze looks down at her and hugs her tighter.

"Music? What do you mean Belial?" Battle and Bomb hear Blaze and turn to their cousin and sister.

"What are you two talking about?" asks Bomb. Blaze shakes her head and helps Belial sit up.

"Music…he's…we have to…this place…" Belial stutters out, trying to make sense of her own thoughts.

Beelzebub stomps down hard on Trinity's chest, making her scream in pain. Glyjametsu fuses his swords together and hits Beelzebub with all of his might, sending him flying across the cathedral. He helps Trinity up and kneels down to her, looking her over for any serious damage. She blushes and pushes him away from her. They hear Beelzebub's laugh echo out through the cathedral and see him floating before them, still totally unharmed.

"Touching, really it is. But I'm afraid you still don't understand yet. I am ETERNAL! I WILL NEVER DIE!" The blue light surrounds him and begins burning as a brilliant fire, chilling the air and filling every corner of the cathedral with the unholy cry of the damned. He thrusts his arms out, making the fire explode outward and knock everyone to the ground. He appears in front of Glyjametsu and punches him hard in the stomach. Glyjametsu falls to his knees, coughing up blood. Beelzebub pushes him over and kicks Trinity hard in the face, sending her flying back, with blood and saliva leaking down her chin.

Beelzebub laughs and catches two of Glyjametsu's fists. The other two begin pounding on his chest and stomach, to Glyjametsu's horror causing no damage. Beelzebub grins and throws him into Trinity. Beelzebub holds up his hands and lets loose a massive burst of blue energy which drives Glyjametsu and Trinity into the far wall. He stops firing and laughs, then slowly walks to them to finish the fight.

"What are you talking about Belial?" asks Battle. Belial shakes her head and tries to stand up. The end result is her falling to her knees panting.

"We have to…this place…we aren't…w-we aren't in Hell anymore…this place…this is Beelzebub's…this is the…music…we have to beat him with music…this is the kingdom of music…like he told us, this is the seat of music's throne. We have to use music to beat him, otherwise he's…he's invincible…" The other four Darkpuffs don't really understand what she means.

"Use music to beat him…what do you mean Belial?" asks Blaze. Belial takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, calming down enough to stop panting.

"We have to…I don't know…but music…music's the most powerful force in this place…if we use that against him they can beat him…I don't know how…but…that's what we have to do…" Battle and Bomb look at each other then turn back to the fight. Beelzebub is still taking Trinity and Glyjametsu as easily as before, both of the deities are quickly wearing down under the demon's unstoppable assault. Battle gulps and grabs Bomb's hand, as per her usual routine to calm herself down. Music…somehow they have to use music to beat Beelzebub. Battle looks at Bomb, who is still intently watching the fight. She blushes and continues staring at her.

"Would singing work? That's what Beelzebub does…" asks Blaze. Belial shrugs.

"It should…I just…I just know we have to use music somehow…" Battle listens to the two, then looks back at the fight. Beelzebub now has one foot on Glyjametsu's back while he begins choking Trinity with one hand. He laughs and continues the slow and torturous process of killing the two. Battle blushes and looks at Bomb. She continues holding Bomb's hand, though tighter now as nervousness builds up in her chest. Before she can stop herself, she starts singing a song she remembers from a long time ago.

"_You've been there for me no matter what the cost,"_ Bomb jumps and turns to Battle, who is blushing bright red while she continues singing, "_My best friend since we believed in Santa Claus. You have stood beside me, and I wanna let you know,"_ She takes Bomb's other hand and turns so she is completely facing Bomb, who is also blushing now, "_I'll be the one who hears your prayers, don't have to ask me I'll be there. I'll be the friend you'll never have to do without, no…when you have nothing at all, you'll still have nothing to worry about. Oh nothing at all…"_ Bomb turns so she is completely facing Battle. Music, as per Battle's memory, has begun playing to accompany her singing. Beelzebub has dropped Trinity and stumbled away from Glyjametsu holding and shaking his head.

"B-Battle…" Battle gulps and goes back to singing from memory.

"_When I was lost inside a forest of dismay, you always knew just how to help me find my way,"_ She lets go of Bomb's hands and puts her hands on Bomb's shoulders, "_In a world that's so uncertain, I will promise this to you…I'll be the one who hears your prayer, don't have to ask me I'll be there,"_ she cups Bomb's cheek, still blushing bright red, "_I'll be the friend you'll never have to do without, when you have nothing at all you'll still have nothing to worry about. Oh no…when you have nothing at all you'll still have nothing to worry about…"_ Bomb gulps and hugs Battle, who hugs her back tightly. Beelzebub growls and shakes his head, which is ringing from Battle's song.

"Dammit…my head hurts…" He doubles over in pain as Trinity's fist collides with his stomach. He snarls and punches her away, then dodges a punch from Glyjametsu and headbutts him in the nose. Once more the fight kicks up into high gear, transcending sight and sound once more.

"Th-That weakened him…we have to sing to beat him…" says Blaze. Battle and Bomb break their embrace, still lost in their own little world staring in each other's eyes. Bomb nervously leans forward and plants a light kiss on Battle's lips, making them both blush more and smile. Battle nervously kisses Battle back lightly and the two embrace once more. Blaze looks at Belial, who is panting again from her wounds.

"What can we sing? We've gotta do something fast or he's gonna kill that guy and Trinity…" Belial looks at her and gulps trying to catch her breath.

"I d…don't know…j-just pick a song you like and start singing…I'm t-t-too tired or I'd do it…" Blaze blushes bright red and covers her mouth.

"B-b-but…e-everyone will h-h-hear me…" Belial grabs her hand and holds it tight, still panting.

"J-just…s-sing to me…pretend I'm the only one who can hear you…just ignore everyone else," Blaze nods and continues blushing and shaking trying to think up a song to sing.

Beelzebub punches Trinity across the face, then punches Glyjametsu in the nose knocking them both away from him. He is breathing harder now, winded somewhat from the interference in his defenses by Battle's singing. He jumps over one of Glyjametsu's swings and blasts him back with his eyebeams. He lands and kicks upward, kicking Trinity in the chin, knocking her slightly into the air. He punches her in the stomach, sending her spiraling backward. He grabs Glyjametsu's wrist when he swings Guradia at him then with a swift flick of his arm he snaps Glyjametsu's wrist. He kicks him in the chest and knocking him back.

"Please Blaze…just sing to me…please?" begs Belial. Blaze blushes and nods then gulps and starts singing, focusing entirely on Belial and trying to pretend no one else is in the room.

"_I have often dreamed of a far off place where a hero's welcome will be waiting for me. Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face, and a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be,"_ She keeps singing, Belial smiling and blushing while listening to her.

Beelzebub stumbles forward and grabs his head, snarling as all around them music begins playing. He turns and is punched in the face by Glyjametsu, followed by a kick in the back from Trinity.

_"I'll be there someday, I can go distance. I will find my way, if I can be strong. I know every mile, will be worth my while when I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong…"_

Beelzebub stumbles back, then is blasted in the chest by Trinity. He is breathing heavily, as blood begins gushing from his ears. Glyjametsu hits him with the fused sword, sending him flying into the wall.

_"Down an unknown road to embrace my fate. Though that road may wander it will lead me to you…"_ Blaze leans closer to Belial and gently strokes her cheek, _"And a thousand years would be worth the wait. It might take a life time but somehow I'll see it through."_

Beelzebub cries out in pain as Trinity punches him across the face. He stumbles back, blood still pouring from his ears as Blaze keeps singing. Glyjametsu kicks him and knocks him back up against the wall.

_"And I won't look back, I can go the distance. And I'll stay on track; no I won't accept defeat. It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope till I go the distance and my journey is complete."_

Beelzebub slumps forward and blasts Trinity and Glyjametsu away from him. He snarls and walks toward Blaze, ready to rip her throat out to make her stop singing. Trinity tackles him from behind and flings him across the cathedral. Glyjametsu lands beside Trinity and the two nod. They power up, determined to finish this before Blaze runs out of song to sing, thus granting Beelzebub his invincibility once more.

"_But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part, for a hero's strength is measured by their heart,"_

Beelzebub stands up panting. The damage from Glyjametsu and Trinity's attacks aren't the bulk of his suffering. Blaze's singing is having a strangely extreme effect on him, causing him unbearable pain. He gathers all of his remaining power, the unholy blue light filling every corner of the cathedral. Glyjametsu and Trinity have both gathered all of their power as well.

_"Like a shooting star I will go the distance. I will search the world; I will face its harms. I don't care how far I can go the distance! Till I find my hero's welcome…waiting in your arms…"_Blaze hugs Belial tightly, crying as she does so. Belial hugs her back with all of her remaining strength.

Glyjametsu and Trinity let their attacks fly as Beelzebub does the same. At first it seems that Beelzebub's unholy light will overpower the light of the deities…

Blaze sniffles and hugs Belial tighter around the neck.

_"I will search the world…I will face its harms…till I find my hero's welcome waiting in…your arms…" _

That last verse causes an explosion to go off in Beelzebub's head. He grabs his head and screams in pain as Trinity and Glyjametsu's attacks collide with him, filling the cathedral with bright light. The two deities run up to him, then step back in horror, seeing Beelzebub bloody and beaten, with a gaping hole in his chest…still standing. He stumbles through the cathedral, completely ignoring everyone. Everything has gone deathly silent. Battle and Bomb shriek and crawl away when Beelzebub stumbles past them. He drops to his knees in front of Belial and grabs her shoulders. Blaze hugs Belial tighter, somewhat for Belial's protection, but mostly to keep from screaming in fear. Beelzebub coughs up blood and stares into Belial's eyes.

Belial stares back at him, as music softly begins playing all around them. Blood pours down Beelzebub's face like tears, more coming up each time he coughs. Her strokes Belial's cheeks and stares in her eyes pleadingly.

"_Say you'll share with me…one love…o-one…l-life time…say the word and I will follow you…" _He coughs up blood and leans closer to her, desperately looking at her,_ "Share each day with me…each night…each morning…"_ More blood seems to pour from his eyes, as his voice becomes stronger. He cups her face and stares at her, "_You alone…can make my song…take flight…"_ He pulls away and stumbles to his feet, holding his head. He stumbles backward and reaches the center of the cathedral.

_"**IT'S OVER NOW THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT!**_" He continues holding out "night" as his body explodes in a flash of light. Beams of blue light shoot up from the ground, from the walls, and specifically from Beelzebub. His body slowly dissolves into an infinite number of flies. Each fly turns white and melts away. Soon his face dissolves away, his voice fading out slowly afterward. The cathedral around them cracks and shatters, revealing them all once more in Hell, in the hall where the girls had entered the cathedral.

Trinity is gone; the Puffs are now all separate once more. Realizing victory the three hug each other, then run to Glyjametsu, who has reverted back into Glyja and hug him. Glyja hugs each of them back tightly. Then he turns to the Darkpuffs.

"From this point on…only we can continue. I ask you to return to Malebolgia's home. From there you'll be safe from the upcoming showdown. I can't say it will match out fight with Beelzebub, but I know that the four of you will only get hurt against Leviathan. Leave the rest of this to us.

The Darkpuffs nod and together the four teleport out of the burning Hells. The girls all look at Glyja, who turns back into Glyjametsu.

"Once we enter this door…we can never come back. Are you ready?" The girls stare at the door. In unison they take each other's hands and nod. Glyjametsu nods and together, the four deity siblings enter into the darkness of the Throne of Hell.


	30. Brother My Brother

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.****  
A/N: Sorry for the horribly long wait, I've been working on other things. In case anyone is confused, this chapter and the next chapter take place during the fight with Blitz/Blood and Beelzebub.**

Leviathan impatiently tapped his claw on his throne. He fidgets and moves around, growling under his breath. Blitz and Blood should have been here by now. He growls again and crosses his arms. This is taking way too long, where the hell are they? He creates a black orb in his hand and waits for the image to appear in the murky depths. It shows Blitz and Blood standing in the hall outside the throne room talking to each other. Just as Blitz is reaching for the door to enter the room, Beelzebub appears and stops her. Leviathan's eyes begin glowing bright red. What the hell is Beelzebub thinking? Leviathan concentrates a little more, causing sound to come from the orb.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to meet Dad in there," says Blitz, looking at Beelzebub with unhidden jealousy. Blood is staring at him as well, but with a completely different emotion expressed on her face. Beelzebub laughs and touches the door, which glows bright blue.

"There has been a change of plans. You two are to wait for the 'heroes' here and kill them. Your father doesn't want to dirty his claws with the weaklings." The door swings open revealing a dark cathedral. Blitz and Blood shrug and go inside. Beelzebub stands outside as the door closes. Then to Leviathan's surprise…and very subtle horror…Beelzebub turns and stares directly into Leviathan's eyes. Leviathan stares back, his claw shaking ever so slightly. Beelzebub can't possibly know he is watching can he? He's just a high order Omega Class demon, there's no way he can know. The eyeholes on Beelzebub's mask begin to glow bright blue. He begins laughing, an insane and totally sadistic laugh that echoes through Leviathan's mind. Then with a twirl, Beelzebub vanishes.

Leviathan crushes the orb, shattering it into a million pieces. He stands up snarling. How dare he! How dare Beelzebub go against HIS plans! That little runt will get what's coming to him, oh yes he will suffer for his betrayal. Before Leviathan can leave; however, a black portal tears open in front of the door. From it walks Him, without his usual whimsical expression or state. Him's features are set in stone, his entire body tensed and ready for action. Leviathan sits back down and laughs at his luck. Beelzebub can wait; it's finally time to end this worthless rivalry.

"Well, well if it isn't little Malebolgia. Have you finally decided to give in to my will? I'll make your death quick and painful if you just surrender." Says Leviathan with a laugh. Him gulps and clenches his claws.

"I'm never surrendering to you Leviathan. I came here to kill you and take back what I rightfully deserve. Only I have the control and knowledge necessary to be the ruler of Hell." Replies Him in a trembling voice. Leviathan laughs again and stands up, taking his cape off and draping it on his throne.

"Rightfully yours? This realm, this entire universe has always been MINE to rule! Once I'm through with you and the goddesses, I'll take it back and make the reality I was born to rule. You don't have the power, the ruthlessness, the will to run this or any other world." Him fidgets nervously, snapping his claws regularly.

"You don't have the heart to rule any-" before he finishes, Leviathan bursts into laughter. He holds his stomach and continues to laugh. When he gets over his laughter, he grins at Him with unrestrained malice.

"Heart? A true ruler, rules with fear, destruction, and hatred. No, Malebolgia, having a heart is a liability, not an asset. Your heart forever makes you inferior to me!" He laughs again. Him snarls, his green eyes glowing.

"You don't know anything! It's because I have this retched heart that I know what they want, know how they feel, and know how to use that to my advantage. Even if I didn't use it to control the human race, at least it makes me a better father than you cou-" Leviathan's laughter cuts him off again. His brother is now making Him more uncomfortable than ever before.

"A father? No Malebolgia, I am a ruler, a GOD. I don't need to show compassion or love to any creature, especially not a couple of soldiers I just happened to create." Him snarls again, his eyes glowing brighter.

"I always thought you were a monster…even for a demon. But now Leviathan, I can see you're something worse, something that doesn't even deserve existence. I'll kill you, I'll KILL YOU!" Him's mental restraints, which for years had kept him from raising a claw against Leviathan finally snap. He flies at Leviathan and swings at him. His brother jumps over the swing and kicks at his head. Him leans back, his eyes still glowing bright green, fueling him with pure demonic adrenaline. He grabs Leviathan's leg and flings him across the room. Leviathan stops himself on the wall and looks up at Him, who is firing a beam of energy from his mouth at him. Leviathan opens his own mouth and fires back a massive beam of black energy, which consumes Him's.

Him dodges out of the beams path and comes up firing green bolts of energy from his claws at Leviathan. Leviathan flies into the air and rains a storm of eyebeams on Him. Him puts up his claws and creates a shield around himself. Already the seemingly unbreakable stone that makes up the room is crumbling. Him looks up at Leviathan and snarls, firing out a massive green beam of energy at him. Leviathan blocks the beam, which sends him crashing through the ceiling. He comes back out in a flash and grabs Him by his throat. He lifts his brother into the air, his own eyes glowing bright red.

"Can't you understand the futility of this Malebolgia? I'm better, stronger, and faster than you will ever be, and there's nothing you can do about it!" He throws Him across the room, knocking him through the wall. Him comes back out and roars. He begins firing millions of green bolts across the room. Leviathan lifts his claws and opens them wide. Red balls of energy begin charging in them, until a massive red bolt fires out and drills Him into the wall. Him climbs out, snarling still, but looking fairly beat up.

"I'll never let you win, I'll never let you win, I'LL NEVER LET YOU WIN!" He is surrounded by green mist. He shoots up to thirteen feet tall, his body becoming a mass of muscles and might. A smaller version of his giant self he'd shown the girls when he pulled them into the fake future. He roars and crosses the distance between himself and Leviathan in a heartbeat. His fist crashes into Leviathan's stomach, driving the wind and blood from his mouth. Leviathan jumps back and fires giant red bolts at Him.

Him simply walks through the barrage of red bolts, wincing and grunting whenever one hits him. He lifts his claw and fires out a giant green bolt, which slams into Leviathan and sends him sprawling on the floor. He gets up and howls with rage, his eyes turning solid red. Him's own eyes turn solid green. Leviathan releases a massive beam of red energy. Him charges at his brother, running straight through the beam. His claw smashes into Leviathan's face, ending his energy beam. Him grabs Leviathan by the throat and begins to slam him around like a rag doll. Leviathan roars and releases a small nova of red energy. He is surrounded by red mist and quickly his body changes like Him's had.

Leviathan becomes taller, just slightly moreso than Him. His body remains lithe and slim, but two skeletal wings grow from his back. He growls and grins, his canines growing into longer fangs. His claws begin changing, becoming five fingered talons. His feet do the same, growing two talons on the front of the foot and one talon on the back. He roars and finishes his transformation, panting. His voice is permanently his snakelike, raspy second voice.

"Grr…the goddess's seal hasn't been weakened enough. This is the most I can transform!" He growls, but grins again. "No matter, it's still more than enough to kill YOU" He fires a giant red bolt at Him, knocking him back onto the floor. Him gets up, just in time to be nailed in the face by Leviathan. Leviathan continues beating on Him relentlessly. He slams his fists down on Him's neck, then begins stomping on his chest.

Him growls and twists Leviathan's leg, making him spiral into the air. He blasts him with his eyebeams then begins his own furious assault. He punches him across the face, absolutely punishes his midsection with a barrage of blows, then releases a green bolt that blasts him into the ceiling. Leviathan floats down and growls, wiping some blood from his lips.

"You're such a pathetic waste Malebolgia. Why do you fight me? Why not join me on the crest of oblivion into the apocalypse? My rule of this universe is inevitable!" Him shakes his head and growls.

"You'll never understand Leviathan! I'm not fighting you for my own personal gain. Of course I have a lot to gain by killing you, but I have even more to lose by letting you continue to live. For the sake of…my children I have to kill you. I HAVE TO!" He fires a green bolt at Leviathan from both claws, which Leviathan counters with his own red bolts.

"You're a weakling! You actually LOVE those pathetic little runts? They were all born too weak. If I had raised Belial in Blaze's place, my army would be unstoppable. But you, you ruined her! She could have been one of the greatest soldiers in all of Hell's armies, second only to Blitz and you ruined her! I got stuck with Blaze, she's only useful in her anger and then she's nothing but a mindless berserker!" Him snarls and begins to overpower Leviathan.

"You're the pathetic one Leviathan! I love them more than life itself, and I'll give anything to insure their happiness! You're the weakling who can't comprehend something like love, you live only for yourself, and that is why you're death is impossible to avoid!" Him completely overwhelms Leviathan and sends him crashing backward. Leviathan stands up and roars. He tries to finish his transformation into his second form, but the seal is still too strong.

"Face it Leviathan, this is game OVER!" Him releases a massive bolt of green light. Leviathan begins growling, then howls with unholy fury. Red light explodes from his body, holding back the bolt. Him pours more power into his attack, but the red field holds as Leviathan's unholy wail is heard throughout the burning Hells.

The light intermixes, causing a massive green and red explosion, like a Christmas firework. Leviathan pants and growls, his body sore from being stuck between transformations. He is quickly put on the defensive as Him unloads a flurry of punches and kicks on him. Leviathan and Him vanish and reappear throughout the room, fighting fiercer than ever before. Leviathan brings his fists down on Him's head. Him blocks with his claws and snarls. He pushes Leviathan back and blasts him with green light.

Leviathan stands up shakily, growling from exhaustion. His eyes snap open and an unholy wail escapes him as red mist swirls around him once more. His wings grow into black-feathered angel wings. His armor turns to rock-like black skin, his hair growing more into a mane. He releases a blast of red energy, laughing like a maniac, now that he'd been able to successfully enter his second form entirely.

Leviathan wastes no time; while Him is still shocked from the transformation (which means the Goddess' Seal is weakening) he lunches at his brother and punches him hard across the face. Him goes crashing backward. He stands up and gasps when Leviathan knees him in the stomach. Him snarls and is consumed by demonic adrenaline again. He punches Leviathan back. The two fire beams at each other, which collide and tear open a warp hole in the middle of the room. The warp hole pulls them in, warping them to another part of Hell.

_Dark Plains_

The two warring demon gods battle through the sky as they appear in the dark plains on the second level of Hell. They fly back and forth, causing shockwaves with the power to shatter planets with every blow they throw. They crash into the ground, which splits open and gives in. They appear in the caves beneath the surface, still locked in fierce combat the blows thrown back and forth between them become fiercer and fiercer every passing second. They blast up through the ground and land in the ruined city, snarling at each other. Leviathan thrusts out his hands, sending basketball sized orbs of red energy all around him. Him leaps into the air and fires down massive bolts of green. Leviathan snarls and a red pillar of energy erupts around him. He flies out of it and becomes locked in combat with Him again.

They become surrounded by balls of red and green energy respectively and collide back and forth throughout the air. They collide a final time, resulting in an explosion, which completely tears the second level of hell apart, sending them into the endless void of mist. This doesn't slow their battle in the least, if anything it is becoming more brutal. Him grabs Leviathan's head and grinds it into the ground. Leviathan twists Him's wrist and pulls his arm behind his back. He then tries to break Him's arm, but is forced to let go when Him begins radiating a massive nova of green light.

"This is hopeless…I'll never lose to you Malebolgia!" shouts Leviathan, as the two face off once more in the only remaining section of the second level of Hell.

"I'll never let you win Leviathan…I have too much to lose…" replies Him, even though his hope is beginning to break, beginning to crumble. The only way to beat Leviathan is to do so before the Goddess' Seal is broken…but how much longer does he have?


	31. The Demon Gods Clash

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy****  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Leviathan growls and flexes his talons. This feeling of pain, the feeling of danger, it is rushing through his veins, keeping his senses on full alert, probing his mind to its fullest extent. In every way it is the greatest thrill he's ever faced in his entire life. But his pleasure is ruined, by the nagging voice in the back of his mind. Not just one reason, but several. His brother, Malebolgia, had always been inferior to him that was a fact of the universe! How could Malebolgia possibly be putting up this much of a fight? Sure a massive load of his power is still held back, but he should easily be able to crush his lesser brother. But here he is, fighting for his everlasting life against Malebolgia of all people. And to make matters worse…he can feel the fear of loss burning in the back of his mind. The possibility that Malebolgia could ruin everything he'd planned from the beginning of time. No that can't happen! It was unfair enough that Malebolgia was given Belial! He didn't deserve to rule the universe! He didn't deserve anything! As much as it burns him, Leviathan has and always will be insanely jealous of Malebolgia. Malebolgia was inferior to him in every way, but he was given the perfect soldier that would have made Leviathan unstoppable. Instead Leviathan was given Blaze…a worthless demonic soldier, not even an Alpha Class demon. Blaze was little more than an advanced Bottom Class demon, and to top it all off she was born sensitive to the world around her. True, Blaze can achieve a Bottom Demon God class power when she entered her Nuclear State, but that power was so unreliable and controllable it didn't matter. Here he was with two Upper Omega Class demon daughters, and a third who isn't even an Alpha…then Malebolgia. Malebolgia was given the one key he needed, Belial. Belial is an Upper Omega Class demon, ruthless and dominant by nature. She could have easily joined Blitz and Blood and led Hell's army into Heaven's gates and won within moments. But no…MALEBOLGIA GOT HER!

Malebolgia is also experiencing several feelings at once. The first and most prominent is fear, fear of his brother's wrath. Even though his heart has led him into this fight, promising to bring him out with victory, he can't deny the agonizing fear burning his chest. The second is the thrill, the rush, the power of being able to make Leviathan sweat. After so many years of living in his brother's shadow, Malebolgia is finally able to show him just what pain is. Leviathan had always sickened him, always made him burn with anger. Not just because he has always forced his superiority upon others, but because of his methods of doing things. Kill first; never ask a question that was all Leviathan is about. Senseless and meaningless destruction just for the sake of destroying things. Malebolgia just can't stand that mindset. What's the point of ruling the universe when there's nothing left to rule? And then there is the matter of his daughters…that is the part that burns Malebolgia more than anything else in the universe. Leviathan acts as if his daughters are nothing more than expendable pawns in this war between them and Heaven. How can Leviathan possibly be that way? There's no word in the universe that can ever describe the absolute hatred Malebolgia feels for Leviathan, not even Mephisto could generate more hate. And now here they are…finally at each other's throats once more, only this time it's for keeps. Only one of them is going to walk away and by God it's not going to be Leviathan.

"How about I make you a deal Malebolgia? We can stop this useless violence and settle this peacefully, like the…" before he finishes, Leviathan's eyes burst into red flames. He screams and snarls his teeth grinding together like a million nails on a chalkboard. "WHAT! WHAT HAS HE DONE? HE KILLED THEM! HE KILLED MY SOLDIERS!" Leviathan screams into the void. He snarls and begins dripping saliva onto the ground. "Beelzebub…BEELZEBUB! He'll never get away for this…he'll never get away for betraying me like this! All I have left is Bl…" Leviathan stops and thinks for a few moments, then stands up and regains his composure.

"What's the matter Leviathan? You almost look like you care about the death of anyone but yourself," says Him sarcastically. Leviathan grins, although it is clear he is burning inside.

"My dear **general** just killed Blitz and Blood…leaving me without a reliable soldier to lead my army…" he says through clenched teeth, trying his hardest to not break down into his primal snarling and roaring. Him laughs and shakes his head.

"You should know the Jester isn't trustworthy, he's been plotting your downfall since the days of the second Omniverse." He says before laughing at his brother's burning fury. Leviathan growls against his will and clenches his talons.

"I was about to make a deal to end this Malebolgia. I'll spare your life, and I'll even spare Bomb and Battle's lives. All I ask is that you give me Belial-" Him bursts into laughter the second that passes Leviathan's lips. Leviathan looks at him in confusion, honestly confused about what is so funny about what he just said.

"You really think I'll give you **any** of my daughters just to save my own skin? I'm not like you Leviathan; I don't live wrapped up in my own desire. I wouldn't trade one of them for rule over the entire Omniverse." He begins laughing again, which causes the rage within Leviathan to burn hotter. Leviathan snarls and loses his self-control, howling with unholy fury. His howl tears holes in the void, holes in the second level of Hell. Him braces himself against the blasting wind being generated by Leviathan's voice. Leviathan continues screaming, his body bursting into red light and changing. Him snarls and bursts into green light. The two lights glow brighter and brighter, tearing the void around them apart in an earth shattering super nova.

The Lake of Fire 

The hells have been torn asunder, leaving behind only the black palace on the third level and the lake of fire, which makes up the first level. The burning lake of fire seems relatively normal at the moment. Soon Leviathan appears above it, snarling to himself. He has grown much taller, to about the size of a skyscraper. He is still very slim and lithe, his skin smooth and hard. His face has changed to that of a wolf with a massive black mane. He roars and spreads his wings out all the way, covering a large portion of the lake of fire.

Just then a massive pillar of fire erupts from the lake, driving Leviathan back. The being that rises from the flames dwarfs the Lord of Darkness, being at least twice as tall. He has tight orange skin, stretched over his bony frame with little to no muscle mass. His hands are huge five-fingered talons, clenching and unclenching while burning with violent hellfire. His head looks almost human, but his bottom jaw is much longer than his top jaw, he has no nose, and his eyes are burning green orbs of solid fire. He has long a long black mane of hair, burning like dark fire above the lake. He roars as two long horns slowly protrude from his head and point into the air. Then he hunches down and laughs at Leviathan, who has taken a step back.

"Unlike you brother, my true self has been free this entire time. And I intend to kill you before yours becomes available," says Malebolgia, whose mouth isn't exactly moving with his words, it's more like a mental process of speaking. Leviathan snarls and floats up to Malebolgia's eye level. He snarls, feeling more and more hatred for his brother, and more and more absolute terror when faced with Malebolgia's true form.

"You'll never defeat me Malebolgia, not now, not ever! Even if I have to die a thousand deaths I will never let you take my place!" Leviathan holds out his talons and fires a massive beam of red energy at Malebolgia. Malebolgia laughs and fires a wave of fire from his mouth, which is accompanied by the screams of the damned. His devastating HellFire attack tears through Leviathan's own attack and sends him flying backward into the lake. Leviathan gets up and snarls. Malebolgia grins and lifts his hands. Instantly green bolts begin firing out at Leviathan, who quickly puts up his hands to block the onslaught. It's all for nothing; however, he takes much damage from the relentless assault of his currently much stronger brother.

Leviathan howls again, unleashing a massive burst of red light, which drives even Malebolgia back. He snarls and flies at Malebolgia, trying to catch him off guard. Malebolgia quickly grabs Leviathan's head and smashes him into the lake. He pulls him up and blasts him with his HellFire from point blank range, then flings him across the lake. Malebolgia leaps the distance and lands on Leviathan. He then begins to punch his brother with increasing fury in each blow.

Leviathan catches Malebolgia's fists, and tries to push them back. His brother laughs and begins holding him down under the fire. While this isn't hurting Leviathan at all, it is certainly humiliating. Leviathan releases all of his power outward, managing to knock Malebolgia back. Leviathan floats up into the air, snarling with cracks all over his body. Red light is pouring from between the cracks, like the unholy deadlight beyond reality. He howls again and his body shatters, letting the red light flood the lake of fire. Malebolgia gasps in fear and steps backward. The light fades revealing that the Goddess' Seal had finally been weakened enough for Leviathan to break it. The Lord of Darkness has finally returned.

"They're losing Malebolgia…hahahaHAHAHAAHAHA! They've already lost! At least Beelzebub has done something useful." Leviathan is now a giant monster, slightly taller than Malebolgia. His body is a mass of muscles, the exact opposite of Malebolgia's. His skin is solid black and hairless. His hands are massive five-fingered talons. His powerful legs, ending in his monstrous feet, his colossal arms and massive hands, the perfect image of power. His head is that of a wolf, with solid red orbs burning with all the evil of the universe as eyes. He has a long black mane that doesn't look like fire like Malebolgia's and two giant black-feathered angel wings, covering almost the entire expanse of the lake of fire.

"It doesn't matter. They'll kill Beelzebub and I'll kill you Leviathan. This is over, the age of darkness is finished and I will usher in the age of cruelty!" screams Malebolgia. Leviathan laughs darkly and boldly.

"Then let's continue, I'm quite enjoying your slow, painful demise!" Leviathan crosses the distance between himself and Malebolgia, the distance from Tokyo to London, in a single moment. The two demon gods vanish into thin air, moving faster than anything their size has a right to move. They appear all across the lake of fire, locked in mortal combat, both trying desperately to overpower the other. Malebolgia grabs Leviathan's mane and slams his face into the ground. Leviathan backhands him across the lake, then appears above him and slams both fists down on his chest. Malebolgia claws him across the face then leaps back and fires his HellFire at him. Leviathan opens his own mouth and fires back a burst of darkness. The two attacks collide and create a nova that would have destroyed the universe if it weren't for the protection around the lake of fire. The two appear high above the fire, trading punches and kicks faster than even thought can comprehend. Pillars of fire have begun to rise from the lake of fire, explosions happening randomly in mid air. Even the unholy Lake of Fire is beginning to crumble from the demon gods' war.

Leviathan flies up into the air and releases a massive black bolt from his hands. Malebolgia lands in the flames and vanishes. He kicks Leviathan in the head and sends him stumbling back, then fires a giant orange bolt at him. The explosion tears open a black hole in the middle of the lake of fire. The two fire at each other again, further tearing the dimension that is fighting in apart. Leviathan tackles Malebolgia out of the air and into the fire. He then begins punching him with unbridled fury. All of his excitement about the fight is now gone, all that remains is the will to survive and the mind numbing fear of defeat. Malebolgia howls and sends him flying backward. The two rise once more, facing off in a showdown that will determine the fate of the universe.

"You'll never win Leviathan…I'll never let you WIN!" screams Malebolgia, his voice permanently stuck in its low octave. Leviathan laughs, his own voice stuck in its high raspy snakelike octave.

"You don't get it Malebolgia. This fight has been determined since the beginning of time. I can't lose, because fate dictates that I am the superior demon. I AM the demon god…no…I AM GOD! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Malebolgia snarls and resists the urge to tremble.

"Regardless of what you belief, I will never let you win!" Leviathan laughs again and once more the war between the demon gods begins again, slowly tearing the lake of fire apart, coming one step closer to losing their fight on the universe, which will inevitably be completely destroyed if that should happen.


	32. Through the Darkness

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Leviathan and Malebolgia continue to clash throughout the lake of fire, which has been practically torn apart. Malebolgia holds Leviathan in the fire and releases his devastating HellFire directly into Leviathan's face. Leviathan howls and his unholy power flings Malebolgia off him. Leviathan stands up and snarls, gathering his unholy power. Malebolgia rises, growling and gathering his own unholy energies. The two fire beams of black and orange respectively at each other. The beams collide and cause the fires in the lake to whip up and rip around furiously. A massive explosion goes off, and when it clears, the two are at each others throat, trying to overpower each other.

"Give up Malebolgia! It's over!" Malebolgia snarls and pushes Leviathan back a few steps, surprising Leviathan.

"It's NEVER over Leviathan! I told you before, I will never let you beat me!" Leviathan growls, his eyes blazing with fury, and pushes Malebolgia back, then punches him across the face. He uppercuts him off his feet then blasts him away with a beam of darkness from his mouth. Malebolgia lands painfully and growls, feeling his body begin to weaken. Despite how well he had been doing against Leviathan it is clear he just can't win. No words can change the clear advantage Leviathan will always have.

"Don't you see how pathetic you are Malebolgia? You fight for a pathetic notion like LOVE, I fight only for myself, and that makes me invincible." Leviathan picks Malebolgia up and laughs. He throws him across the fire, grinning evilly.

"It's all over Malebolgia, I win again, just like I always will. You never even stood a chance. In fact, I don't care if the goddesses show up because I now know I am invincible." Leviathan is about to bring his fist crashing down on Malebolgia, when suddenly a massive beam, shining with blue, green, pink, black, and white slams into him and shoves him off balance. He turns and grins, seeing the…four? What are all four of the deities doing here? Glyjametsu is standing behind his sisters, defiant as ever before, with his four swords of the heavens. Glyjametsu should be dead…how is he here? He doesn't make much of a difference, he can't even compare to the goddesses in power, let alone Leviathan!

"So you finally decided to show up did you? Malebolgia will have to thank you some day, when you meet him in the never ending hell I'll create once I'm through with you!" Leviathan fires a huge black beam at the deities, who separate, and quickly take the offensive against the master of Hell.

Malebolgia tries to get up, but his body has grown too weak. He lies in the fires of Hell, unable to help fight back against Leviathan. The puffs are amazed by Him's true form, frightened to the core knowing that the giant nightmare used to be the fruity cross dresser who messed with them their whole lives. But now that's not important. The giant black beast is the most of their worries. Leviathan swings at Blossom, who quickly dodges and fires a burst of energy at him. Leviathan isn't phased by the attack at all as he fires his massive eyebeams at Bubbles and Buttercup, who split up and fire their elemental powers of fire (from Bubbles) and a shockwave (from Buttercup) at the monster. Leviathan flies into the air and fires down a beam of black energy from his mouth. Glyjametsu fuses his swords and swings the fused sword at Leviathan, managing to knock him off balance. The girls fire their Starburst Ray at Leviathan, knocking him into the fire. Leviathan rises, laughing evilly and grinning.

"You can't stop me. You're even more pathetic than Malebolgia. Just give up and give in. It'll all be over in a matter of moments!" Leviathan powers up and howls, spreading his wings out. Beams of black energy begin to rain down on Malebolgia's broken body and the four deities. They all protect themselves as well as they can, but the beams fall relentlessly. Leviathan laughs hysterically, raining down more beams on the broken heroes, seeing victory already. He closes his wings around himself then thrusts them out and causes them to become solid black energy. The energy wings shoot out and wrap around the deities, crushing them causing all of them to cry out in pain.

"GIVE UP! I'VE ALREADY WON!" He laughs again, as Malebolgia weakly opens one eye and watches the deities lose to Leviathan almost instantly. Leviathan really is invincible…there's just no way to beat him! Malebolgia closes his eyes and feels tears well up in them. He can feel his eternal life coming to an end, slowly choking the breath out of him. He clutches his chest, panting, feeling more horrible than ever before. Flashes zoom through his mind; images of his daughters, their accomplishments, the fun they had with him, the foreign, accursed feeling of love blooming in his heart as he held them and rocked them to sleep the day they were born, and how he came to cherish that feeling. He gasps for air, finally coming to grips with the fact that he really is dying. No one can save them from Leviathan's wrath because Leviathan is always right; he always wins. His body goes limp, as the last of his eternal life begins to leave him.

_Him's Lair_

In the living room of the endless void where Him and his daughters live, the four Darkpuffs are sitting in the living room. Belial and Blaze are on the couch, as far from Bomb and Battle, who are sharing the recliner, as possible. They are all sitting in silence, feeling awkward like nobodies business. Blaze is lying against Belial, who is leaning against the armrest of the couch, staring down at Blaze's head while she hugs her. Bomb is sitting on Battle's lap, the two trying to avoid looking in their big sister's direction. Blaze probably feels the most comfortable of the four of them. Despite having just gotten out of a war against her cousins, she is ready to move on. The three sisters; however, still have a long way to go before their war can finally be over. Years of unrest and hatred don't just vanish on a whim.

"So um…how do you think they're doing?" asks Blaze. Belial mumbles something into her hair and hugs her tighter. Battle and Bomb just shift and continue looking away from Belial. Blaze sighs and looks up at Belial, who seems almost afraid to be around her sisters. She shakes her head and cuddles closer to Belial, who gratefully hugs her tighter.

Bomb suddenly shrieks and jumps up clenching her head. She begins screaming loudly, her eyes burning bright yellow. She falls to her knees, crying and screaming as unbearable pain quakes through her body. Battle is next to her instantly, trying to calm her down. Blaze gets up quickly and kneels down next to Bomb, while Belial remains on the sofa, staying away from her sisters.

"DADDY!" screams Bomb. She falls forward and screams again, her head feeling like it's about to split open any second. "DADDY'S DYING!" She jerks back and suddenly the TV turns on and shows Malebolgia lying in the fires of hell, coming closer and closer to dying with every passing second. Battle screams and scoots back away from the bloody image on the TV.

"Daddy! Don't die Daddy!" cries Battle, staring at Malebolgia, who has finally given up trying to resist death. Belial chokes back a sob, her eyes watering and spilling over at the sight of her dad's broken body. The image changes to show Leviathan laughing hysterically as the four deities are slowly killed by the hellish energy of his wings. The four Darkpuffs stare in disbelief, feeling hopelessness akin to the fight with Beelzebub. They're powerless to help them…Leviathan is a demon god; nothing the four of them can do will make a difference. Belial is the only one who is an Omega Class anyway; Bomb and Battle are only Gamma Class, while Blaze is below Alpha Class, leaving her the weakest until she becomes enraged. The three Malebolgia sisters can feel their eyes begin glowing; Belial's violet, Bomb's yellow, and Battle's blue. Blaze watches, feeling useless and awkward around the three while her estranged uncle is dying by her father's hand. She sits on the couch and hugs Belial, breaking down and crying into her side. Belial hugs her back and cries freely as well. The three Malebolgia sisters suddenly jerk upright, feeling distant and strange. Their eyes flash and a bright burst of light, coming from their chests, shoots into the TV, and into the flames of Hell itself.

_The Lake of Fire_

Malebolgia feels his last breath leave him, his head rolling to the side as his eternity finally ends. Suddenly his head jerks back up; he is panting and his chest is glowing brightly. Not his chest…something in his chest, the very source of his strife, the thing he held as the only way he had beaten Leviathan. His heart is beating, and not just beating. No, his heart is beating fiercely, pumping brand new power into Malebolgia. This power is warm and welcoming, like something that had always been there waiting to escape. Now he feels his wounds heal, his bones mend, and everything about him become faster, stronger, and better. He grins, the power forcing the grin to his face as his orange eyes burst into flames. He rises and howls with demonic glee as the flames from the Lake of Fire swirl around him high into the endless void above them. Leviathan turns around, mouth gaping at the sight that greets him. Malebolgia laughs maniacally as the flames die down. Malebolgia looks the exact same as before. However, he is no longer slouching, he is grinning like a pyromaniac with a flamethrower, and his eyes are burning, like two orange fireballs in their sockets.

"M-Malebolgia…but you should be dead by now, there's no way you could have survived that," says Leviathan, his voice strong and demanding…but at the same time holding back a hidden terror. Malebolgia laughs hysterically, then grins and begins walking slowly toward Leviathan.

"By all accounts dear brother, I should be dead. In fact I died right there in the lake of fire. But as you can clearly see, I'm not dead anymore. In fact, I've come back with the power to destroy you," Leviathan laughs and turns to face Malebolgia, still holding the deities.

"I explained this before Malebolgia, nothing you do will ever be enough to stop M-" before he can finish he doubles over gasping for air. His wings return to normal, dropping the deities, who quickly and shakily regain flight to avoid falling into the fire. Malebolgia grins and pulls his fist away from Leviathan's stomach.

"Nothing I do will ever beat you, but what **they** do will. It's because of this heart Leviathan, the accursed object of my endless suffering, that you are destined to die by my hand!" Leviathan snarls and swings a punch at Malebolgia. Malebolgia moves out of the way and punches Leviathan across the face. Before he hits the flames, Leviathan jumps back and fires bolts of black energy at Malebolgia. Malebolgia grins and fires back his HellFire, which is a shimmering beam of violet, yellow, and blue fire.

Leviathan flies into the air and fires back his mouth beam. Malebolgia jumps back and begins throwing orange bolts at Leviathan. The dark lord flies through the air, firing mouth beams at Malebolgia. Malebolgia grins and leaps into the air. He lands on Leviathan's back and begins to tear at his wings. Leviathan howls in unholy agony and blasts Malebolgia away with a black wind. He falls to his knees in the Lake of Fire, snarling and trying to end the pain coming from his ravaged wings. Malebolgia gets up and laughs then rams his talons into Leviathan's right wing. He takes hold and in one swift motion tears it from his brother's back. Leviathan falls to the ground screaming in pain.

"What's wrong Leviathan? DOES IT HURT?" Malebolgia laughs and throws Leviathan's wing into the fire, where it burns away into a dark mist, which fades away. He then grabs his brother by the hair and jerks him to his feet. He stabs his finger into Leviathan's eye, causing Leviathan to howl in more pain. Malebolgia laughs and shoves him into the fire, then turns to the deities. The deities are stunned by Malebolgia's sudden display of impossible power. In seconds he had rendered Leviathan a quivering mess of pain.

"What happened to you Malebolgia?" asks Glyjametsu, who doesn't trust the Lord of Cruelty in the least. A forced partnership can be easily broken once the force they'd joined against is gone. And by the looks of it that may be soon. Malebolgia grins and waves his hand.

"A little gift from my girls, I must say it's better than a fancy tie," he laughs hysterically, not noticing Leviathan rising to his feet behind him. Blood is pouring from Leviathan's pierced eye, and gushing down his back. He snarls and howls angrily. The black wind shoots from his body and begins driving Malebolgia and the deities back. Malebolgia is surprised; Leviathan shouldn't still be this powerful. Leviathan is snarling fiercely, nearly foaming at the mouth.

Leviathan snarls and clutches his head. His one wing thrusts outward and drops a few black feathers into the fire. He vanishes and instantly a thunder-like crack resounds through the burning Hells as Leviathan's fist smashes across Malebolgia's face.

"He can't do this alone Leviathan has too much power left. Let's help," says Blossom. Bubbles and Buttercup nod. Glyjametsu floats there, watching Leviathan pound Malebolgia around quite easily, just becoming angrier when Malebolgia fights back.

"Right Zu-Zu, let's get this war over with," Blossom nods and together the four split up and fly in to help Malebolgia. Blossom warps forward quickly and rams into Leviathan from behind, moving almost instantly when he spins around and slashes at her. He snarls, running on pure demonic instinct to survive rather than using his brain. Bubbles fires hundreds of icicles at him, but Leviathan just gets angrier and fires a shower of black bolts at her. Malebolgia slams an orange bolt in Leviathan's face, turning his attention back to his brother.

Buttercup and Glyjametsu fire giant shockwaves at Leviathan courtesy of her power and his Atma sword. Leviathan throws Malebolgia across the lake then turns and fires a black wind at Glyjametsu and Buttercup. When she looks up Buttercup sees Leviathan's giant fist coming down at her. She screams and does the only thing she can think of in the situation. She puts her hands up and catches Leviathan's fist.

"Delu!" shouts Glyjametsu, expecting to see his sister crushed beneath the Lord of Darkness's fist. Buttercup growls and pushes back his fist slightly. Leviathan howls and brings both fists down at Buttercup. They slam into the lake, as Blossom appears high above him with Buttercup in tow. Without a second thought, Buttercup thrusts her hands out and powers up her Mega Beam. The beam explodes, sending thousands upon thousands of bolts of energy down on Leviathan. Blossom goes through the long motions and throws her Shinespark at Leviathan, further adding to his discomfort. He roars and blasts them both out of the sky with a black bolt.

Malebolgia tackles Leviathan and begins punching him the second they hit the lake. Leviathan blasts him off with the black wind just in time for Glyjametsu's fused sword to come crashing down on him. Leviathan stands up and roars once more, causing the hells to shake and tremble. Bubbles rams into Leviathan and flies away, her body becoming a blade of energy. She stops in the air and takes the energy blade form again before slamming into Leviathan. He knocks her away with his wing and fires out a massive mouth beam at Glyjametsu. Glyjametsu swings all four swords, creating a massive crescent beam of energy. It doesn't stop the mouth beam, but slows it down enough for Blossom to warp Glyjametsu out of the way. Malebolgia tackles Leviathan as the four deities gather together in the void above the Lake of Fire.

"Wow he's really tough…" says Buttercup. Bubbles nods and gulps. Glyjametsu is leaning over Blossom, wiping some of the blood from her face. She pushes him away, half jokingly and half out of frustration.

"Yeah but we seem to be more effective than we were as the goddesses. I'm thinking we can take him with Him and Glyjametsu this time," says Blossom. Glyjametsu blushes a little and stands up straight, nodding. "What's wrong Glyja?" asks Blossom. Glyjametsu just mumbles something incoherent and coughs into one of his fists.

"Uh the battle, priorities Zu-Zu" Blossom nods and turns back to the fight.

"What are we supposed to do…Leviathan is running on autopilot, he'll bring the universe down around him before he lets himself die…

"We can try a super duper ultra special attack with all of our powers." Suggests Bubbles. Buttercup pats her on the shoulder and gives Blossom a thumbs up.

"Yeah that works for me, let's do it," she says while panting. Blossom nods and soon the four deities are focusing all of their power together, each holding out their right hand (or in Glyjametsu's case his upper-right hand) and gathering their power in a single point.

Malebolgia throws Leviathan off him, only to have his brother back on him in seconds, gnashing and tearing and thrashing him around. Malebolgia blasts him back with his Super HellFire, but instantly Leviathan fires a mouth beam at him and knocks him off his feet. As he's falling to the ground, Malebolgia can see Leviathan appear above him. Time slows down as Leviathan pulls his hand back and thrusts it downward toward Malebolgia's chest, to tear out his aching heart.

"_It's all over…" _Thinks Malebolgia, his eyes bulging as the talons head for his chest. Malebolgia's breathing quickens, as a fourth light shines from his chest. He quickly grabs Leviathan's arm and holds it above him. He twists and lands on his feet, quickly tackling Leviathan and ramming his own talon through Leviathan's stomach. Leviathan hunches over and begins to cough up blood. Malebolgia stands up, breathing heavily and holding his chest. Where had that fourth warmth come from? He only had three daughters…and he'd been able to identify their power…

Leviathan howls and punches Malebolgia back. Malebolgia clutches his chest and pants, while Leviathan holds his stomach and snarls in pain.

"Why Maleb-bolgia…why did she…she betrayed me…they all betrayed me…why…I AM THEIR MASTER! I AM GOD!" screams Leviathan. Malebolgia realizes whose power is now flowing from his heart and gathers his thoughts through the pain.

"You try to r-rule with fear and hatr-hatred Leviathan…she wanted love and she found it someplace else. Now you'll suffer for denying your daughters the love they deserved." Malebolgia steps back and looks up. Leviathan follows his gaze and begins trembling, a moan of fear escaping his lips. High above them is a burning holy light, the very power of the universe gathered in a single point. Leviathan stumbles back, shaking uncontrollably.

"N-no…not that…I c-c-can't die…I can't you can't do this to me! Please I'll do anything! You can't kill me! NO! DON'T KILL ME! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Leviathan stumbles backward and falls into the Lake of Fire, screaming hysterically now.

"NO YOU CAN'T! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Malebolgia watches, with an almost sadistic glee. The giant ball of holy energy fires out, slowing time and space. Leviathan screams louder as it consumes him, tearing him apart; piece by hated piece. He screams and begs as the holy light seals his fate. Within moments the Lord of Darkness is no more, dying like the coward he truly was in the end.

Malebolgia watches the four deities pass out and fall toward the Lake of Fire. He hesitates, thinking about how easy it would be to just let them fall into the fire and perish forever. But as the realm around them settles down, he reaches out his hand and catches them.

"Someday I'll begin my own black story in the history of the universe. Then we'll see who fate smiles upon…until then…thank you for all of your help."

Malebolgia fades away from the burning Lake of Fire, which continues to echo with the screams and cries of those who died in sin. Only now, a new voice rings out over the endless masses. From the deepest depths of oblivion, Leviathan's cries of suffering can be heard, echoing on for all eternity.


	33. Two Weeks After

**Caught in the Crossfire  
By Kevin Larry Ivy  
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.**

Darkness is all that can be seen. A patch of light appears in the darkness and a figure enters the chamber. The patch of light disappears, replaced by the sound of soft footsteps. The figure stops and soon three more patches of light appear, washing the darkness away with the morning light. Glyja scratches his head and yawns, staring at the bed before him. The three lumps are his missions, and he must not fail or the consequences would be dire. He kneels down and takes a running start at the bed. He leaps into the air and lands on the bed, specifically on the middle lump. Three voices shriek and soon the air is permeated by the sound of cursing and shouting. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup sit up angrily in bed and glare at Glyja, who is grinning and laughing. He crosses his legs and stares at them, grinning still.

"Morning my dear bundles of sunshine, how's it going?" Blossom shoves him backward off the bed and rubs her stomach.

"I'd be a lot better if you hadn't jumped on me you nerd." Glyja stands up rubbing his head and laughing.

"Well I'm just living up to my gods given duties as your big brother." Bubbles giggles and Blossom rolls her eyes.

"Yeah you're big alright, you need to cut back on the donuts, honestly you nearly crushed me." Glyja coughs into his fist and glares at her.

"You callin' me fat li'l Zu-Zu?" Buttercup snickers and Bubbles continues to giggle as Blossom gives Glyja an overly sweet smile.

"Of course not Glyja, I'm calling you really fat, chunky butt." Glyja blushes and crosses his top arms, putting the bottom two on his hips.

"After all my work, you dare insult my body. I could make Adonis jealous Zu-Zu," He is silenced quickly in his rant by a pillow smacking him in the face. Blossom yawns and walks by him toward the bathroom.

"Only because you found the buffet before he did." Bubbles and Buttercup are both laughing by this point. Glyja's new expression draws more laughter from the two. He picks the pillow up and growls as he leaves to follow Blossom to return the favor.

"Geez those two are always going at it," says Buttercup in between her snickers. Bubbles giggles and nods.

"Yeah I know, poor Glyja can never win." The two continue giggling as they quickly leave to watch the rest of Blossom and Glyja's morning routine, which usually ends with Glyja in an uncomfortable position ala Blossom, muttering about "damned stronger than me little sisters".

This morning turns out to be a little different. As Bubbles and Buttercup are heading to the bathroom, they hear Blossom scream and begin laughing hysterically. This catches their attention, causing them to book it to see the show. They arrive and begin laughing again at the sight before them. Glyja has Blossom lifted into the air with his top two arms and is tickling her defenseless upper body with his remaining two hands. Blossom is kicking her legs and jerking back and forth, laughing hysterically trying to get away from her older brother's lethal assault.

"Bubbles! Buttercup! Help MEEEE!" she manages to yell out between her uncontrollable giggles and screams of laughter. Bubbles and Buttercup stare and watch for a moment. As if on cue, the two turn to each other and say at the same time.

"I got her feet!" Blossom shrieks and soon finds herself laughing harder as her sisters assault her helpless feet. The professor walks by the bathroom and laughs to himself, seeing his daughters and his recently adopted son messing around like usual. He shakes his head and walks away with a laugh, deciding not to interrupt anything.

The camera zooms away from the scene in the bathroom, zooming out the window and heading into Townsville. It zooms by a building, and zooms up to the window. Inside are the three Malebolgia sisters, talking with an older female psychiatrist. The three are all crying and screaming at each other while the doctor takes notes. Bomb and Battle are sitting on one side of the sofa while Belial sits on the other. Bomb is holding Battle, who has broken down and begun crying uncontrollably against her sister. Belial has her knees pulled up to her chest, with her arms wrapped around them. The camera zooms over to the doctor's desk, then back out the window. The Darkpuffs continue yelling and crying while their session of family therapy slowly trudges by.

The camera zooms down into the ground and appears in Him's Lair. It moves into the living room, where Him and Blaze are lying on the floor playing a board game together.

"So um…what time are they gonna be home?" asks Blaze. Him scratches his chin and moves his piece on the Monopoly board.

"Oh I think another hour or so my dear. By the way, I've been meaning to thank you for defeating Leviathan," Blaze looks up at him in confusion, kicking her legs carelessly.

"What do you mean Uncle Malebolgia?" Him laughs and looks through his properties.

"There's no need to hide it dear. I could feel you in my heart when I received that last burst of power to disable Leviathan. It was you desire to end his reign, to stand up for what you believe in, that defeated Leviathan," Blaze blushes and moves her dog piece on the board.

"Well…I just…I love Belial…and Battle and Bomb seem real nice, and you…I just…I want a family that loves me…" Him nods and smiles moving his piece again.

" Thank you again dear, I promise I won't be like my brother. He lived in fear of everything, terrified to be killed, so he oppressed everyone around him." They hear a rush of wind, followed by screaming and cursing. Him sighs and sits up, "Well it appears the rest of the family has returned home. I'll check on Battle and Bomb, would you mind calming Belial down before lunch?" Blaze nods and puts away the board game before running off to Belial's room, while Him heads off to figure out which room Battle and Bomb are in.

The camera moves downward once more, appearing in the Black Palace of Hell. It zooms around, showing the few remaining Sigma and Omega class demons who survived the war of the two demon gods nearly two weeks ago. It passes through the door leading to the throne room, where the throne remains untouched, with the red energies that would proclaim the leader of Hell resonating around it. The camera looks around the room at all of the destruction, then suddenly everything in the throne room changes.

It is now in the dark cathedral where Blitz and Blood lost their lives in the horrifying showdown with Beelzebub. Everything is untouched, still lying in ruin. The camera passes by Blitz and Blood's perfectly preserved corpses, then focuses on a pile of rocks lying in the corner. The rocks shift and suddenly fall apart, revealing a wooden jester mask lying amongst the destruction. There is a long crack running across the mask, scarring the perfect design. A large fly climbs out of the left eye of the mask and looks around. It moves down to the lips of the mask and flies off. Suddenly the eye holes of the mask begin to burn…with a bright unholy blue light…

**The End…**


End file.
